Warmth (A RivaMika Levi x Mikasa Fanfiction)
by xXx YaGamI RiKo xXx
Summary: Imagine Levi and Mikasa are both Corporal class . The story tells a tale of how these two broken souls combine into one. She wanted to bury her feelings for him; he wanted to kill his affection for her. Will they end up in separate path or will they walk the road together?
1. Chapter 1 : The Strongest

_Disclaimer: I do not own Attack on Titan or the characters of Attack on Titan. But the idea and some of the characters are mine._

 _Pairing: Levi x Mikasa (I strongly ship them! Hope my readers are in the same boat as me~)_

 ** _Please do leave comments about the story. Your reviews are most wanted!_**

 ** _Thank you very much and do enjoy this work of mine._**

 ** _P/S: I've published this story in Wattpad as well (under the same title \- Warmth _****(A RivaMika Levi x Mikasa Fanfiction)** ** _- author name YagamiRiko/SagaraRiko)_**

 ** _Thank you! :)_**

* * *

Chapter 1 : The Strongest

* * *

"Hey, look at that woman. It's the famous Corporal Mikasa Ackerman! I never thought that I'll be able to catch a glimpse at the Humanity's Strongest Soldier so soon."

"Yea. Look at her eyes. It's as cold as ice, as if she had killed millions without a glitch, not to mention the lack of emotion on her face."

"I would be more than honoured to be murdered under her glance if possible. She is the most exquisite woman that I've ever seen in my life."

Countless chatter from the floor flooded the mess hall whenever the raven haired Corporal was seated quietly with the higher ranks officers like Commander Erwin and Squad Leader Hanji while savouring her meals.

She, being the youngest Corporal in the Scout Regiment history, that managed to climb the ladder from a common soldier to her current position in merely five years since she joined the team, was always one of the most distinguished news in the affiliation. Most importantly, she is only twenty years old at this very moment.

Another attention of the crowd was a raven haired man, a Lance Corporal at his thirty years of age, who was seated two tables across hers, with his squad members. Rumours of him spread like wildfire when he claimed the title in less than two years' time and he proved his abilities as the next Humanity's Strongest Soldier by slaughtering titans in split seconds, increasing the survival rate of each expeditions by three fold. Even though his time with the Scout Regiment is short, but his life experiences were definitely much heavier, who allowed him to easily blend into this survival game.

"Corporal, why aren't you eating? You need to boost your energy from the intense training with Corporal Mikasa the whole day," asked the blonde haired woman, who is sincerely caring for the man beside him.

Levi raised an eyebrow at her innocent look annoyingly before replying in a monotonous tone, "I'm fine, Petra. Don't be so persistent with my health." He then marched away from the mess hall at the speed of the lightning, leaving the rest of his team members in a confused state, wondering the reason behind the bad mood team leader of theirs.

* * *

The sun has long set its way to slumber and it was the starlight and silvery moon's turns to guard the world, leaving traces of shadows along the long quiet walkway.

Levi travelled the pathway that had been illuminated by the moonlight with peace. He is a man of a few words, or rather he hated to get involved with another human being unless necessary. Never did he dreamt that he would leave his former thug life to join an affiliation which requires serious teamwork and communication among team mates to keep everyone alive, though not every soul was kept breathing till the very end of each expeditions.

He disliked the feeling of being counted on humanity's hopes to conquer the titans, especially when he was crowned the next Humanity's Strongest Soldier and awarded as Lance Corporal for his excellent work. The only thing that amused him was the power of taking control, barking orders and throwing useless paper works to his subordinates whenever possible.

He too wondered, whether his expressionless commanding officer feels the weight as he felt when she was being thrown to that position. She is a woman of no emotion, he noticed, throughout the times he spent with her. She does not display any emotions other than plain, bland and flat towards any situation. Even though the scene may 100% looked embarrassing, the tone of her voice never ceases to maintain its flatness.

Yet, he found himself searching for her inner being, the faint thread that she might left behind for him to track down her weakness.

Now there he is, standing in front of his commanding officer's office door, waiting for the door to be eventually opened by its own for her to notice his presence.

Levi sighted heavily at his out of character behaviour, yet he does not want to leave without seeing her for the night. So, he lifted his hand and when he was about to knock the door, to his surprise, the door did magically opened on its own.

"Rivaille? What are you doing here at this hour?" asked Mikasa who stood by the door curiously.

"A-Ah, Mikasa. Nothing. I was just wondering whether you need a hand on your paper work. I noticed that Erwin had thrown another pile of work to you again this afternoon after our training ended," Levi replied in a firm tone, masking off his tensed body.

Mikasa eyed the man before her closely before she responded in a flat tone, "I was just about to catch some air before continuing those work. Since you brought it up, you are more than welcome to join me then. It's going to be your job in future, _anyway_." With that, she walked back to her desk while Levi shut her office door behind him and took a seat across her.

* * *

"Hmm... you should be able to handle these. Here, try finishing them before midnight," said Mikasa as she passed a stack of documents to Levi to work on.

Sitting in her silent, cosy office, just two of them, face to face, across the good-for-nothing huge desk was not their first time. Mikasa often summoned Levi to her office for many official reasons, but nothing more than that. She never tried to dig into the matured man's past and so does he. Most likely, deep within their hearts, they knew that they had some similarities. A _broken_ soul, which lead them to this stoic character. Thus, mysteries remains between them, in which Mikasa is totally fine with it as she does not want anyone to come rubbing her scar of the past to reveal its bloody wound.

Yet, she somehow wondered what caused the man's character before her. She knew that it was Erwin who brought him to the Scout Regiment two years ago and personally trained him. It was until the mountains of work and never ending head cracking meetings that pulled Erwin away from the trainings, and he decided to park Levi under Mikasa's care, knowing that she can execute the mission fine.

Tonight was a weird night for her when she decided to break the ice between them. "Rivaille, why you decided to join this association? You look more like a lone ranger than a team person," Mikasa chanted dully, as her grey orbs moved their way towards the short man. She rested her chin on her palm while silently waited for his reply.

Levi tilted his head up a little to meet her gaze. He let out a heavy breath and drawled, "I was sick with the underground world and my lack of skills – that caused the deaths of my comrades. Erwin managed to cut me off caught when no one in the underground had ever managed to do it."

"Perhaps I just wanted to suppress him or perhaps I just wanted to have a good night sleep without thinking the next second my throat will be slit," he continued and carefully locked his gaze at her, searching for further emotion in her face.

To his discontent, she remained expressionless as ever. She just arched back to her chair leisurely and hummed lowly at his reply, which made him cracked within.

"I suppose someone like you will never understand the feeling of being abandoned, _alone_ , in a world that you can never imagine," Levi growled sarcastically at the woman while leaning back to his chair. He hoped to step onto her sensitive zone, to piss her off in order to make her react differently.

Again, the woman only displayed another same gloomy look on her face and answered, "Maybe. Well, my position doesn't allow me to mingle with any unnecessary feelings. Otherwise, the next thing you will be doing is, dragging my corpse back to the castle."

Her words froze his blood instantly, sending shivers down his spine and stiffen his body. The atmosphere in the room was heavy and suffocating. He dared not move his gaze away from hers.

 _Something must had happened in the past that created the woman before him_ , he thought deeply.

Eyeing the confused man, Mikasa decided to put a full stop to the conversation before it drags any further. "Let's wrap up for today, it's getting late. Go to sleep, Rivaille."

Levi snapped back from his thoughts and noticed that Mikasa had already headed for the door and had it opened for him. Reluctantly, he removed himself from the chair and headed to the door. Just right before the door is closed, he heard a soft whisper, "Goodnight Levi", and the door was shut, leaving a widen eyes, flabbergasted Levi behind.

* * *

Chapter 1 end


	2. Chapter 2: The Mask

_Disclaimer: I do not own Attack on Titan or the characters of Attack on Titan. But the idea and some of the characters are mine._

 _Pairing: Levi x Mikasa (I strongly ship them! Hope my readers are in the same boat as me~)_

 ** _Chapter 2 is up!_**

 ** _Please do leave comments about the story. Your reviews are very much appreaciated!_**

 ** _Thank you very much and do enjoy this work of mine. :)_**

* * *

Chapter 2: The Mask

* * *

Seasons change in the blink of an eye in the wall. Expeditions one after another pays no attention the flow of time. Despite the hard grieve times, there were still some good reasons to live. It was Levi's third spring in the Scout Regiment and he was promoted to a Corporal. Many of the squad members had mixed feelings of jealousy, relief, happiness and anger towards this appointment. However, it was a decision made by the top management, including Corporals, Commanding Officers, Section Commanders, Squad Leaders, Squad Captain and of course, the Commander.

The night of Levi's promotion, the Scout Regiment threw a party for him, like for any other soldier who got promoted. It was the very least ease of tension in the affiliation that Erwin could do for his fellow comrades.

"Let's toast to Corporal Levi Ackerman for his remarkable performance in the Scout Regiment!" proclaimed Erwin as he raised his glass of wine to the air towards Levi and the floor.

"Congratulations, Corporal Levi!" shouted the crowd excitedly as Levi quickly being swamped with girls, but he was soon protected by his team members, especially Petra who started shooting murderous glares at the girls.

"I wonder where she learnt that glaring skill from," questioned Oruo in a slightly sad tone, "she used to be so innocent and angelic."

"Might be from Corporal Mikasa or Corporal Levi himself. Both of them had that skill built into their eyes and it was widely used in public. Otherwise, they would be usually swamped by opposite genders all the time," hooted Gunther as he gulped down a big glass of beer. "I'm glad that Levi manage to own that title in such short period of time."

Eld who was almost drunk beside Oruo nodded furiously in agreement. "Our boss own it! He deserves that honour!" he giggled loudly before slamming his head onto the table.

"Ah, this guy is out of the game. Oruo, give me a hand to carry Eld back to his chamber! Corporal Levi, we shall retire for the night then. Congratulations once again!" pronounced Gunther as he motioned Oruo to carry the passed out Eld out from the mess hall. Levi plastered a thin smile and nodded slightly at his members.

It was near midnight and almost all the soldiers had passed out in the hall itself, leaving only a handful sober ones who decided to drag themselves back to their chambers for a good night sleep.

"Erm, Corporal Levi. It's getting late. Shall we head back?" entreated Petra, her blush seared through her cheeks while she peeks a glance at Corporal Levi. He had been quiet the whole night, even though he was supposed to be the main character of the party. He is physically in the hall but mentally, he definitely is somewhere else.

Petra frowned at the man disappointingly. "Corporal Levi?" she called again and this time, Levi's deep train of thought was finally interrupted.

He snapped and looked at the blonde haired woman, who was shyly staring and waiting for his response. "Oh, Petra. You should head back to your chamber now. I will be going back to my room shortly later," he droned slowly while continued to sip his wine.

"If you want company, I can-"

"No. I'll be fine alone," he cut her off and narrowed his eyes, while motion her to leave.

Petra's eyes flattened with her beloved corporal's statement and flee from the scene before her tears roll down her cheeks.

* * *

It was one of the rare nights Levi brought himself out of the castle to feel the wintry blow his hair into a tousled mane. Stars light the sky like snow-flakes in the night, yet appear still, like an old painting. Despite the magnificent Milky Way in the night sky, the surroundings are wrapped in darkness. The night is as ferocious as a dip in the frozen lakes would be, taking his body heat until his lips blued and teeth chattered. It was an erratic frosty cold spring night. Levi ambled along the castle until he discerned a dark, tall figure, who was making its way towards the right side of the castle.

Levi stayed in the shadows, alerted. He was ready to take down the figure if it makes suspicious movements. Judiciously, he stalked the footsteps of the figure who was somehow wading through the bushes and ended up in front of the gates named 'Freedom'. The figure leisurely opened the gates and continued its journey into the darkness.

 _What the hell is that person doing at the graveyards in the middle of the night?_ The raven haired man thought in bewilderment and he then too noticed that the figure had a bouquet of flowers on its arm. The scent of the flowers created a string of light that illuminates the figure's footsteps, making it easier for Levi to trace its owner's whereabouts.

After a long tailing, the figure finally stopped at one of the tombstones. At that very same moment, gloomy clouds made way for the nightly moonlight queen to splash down her watery white-silver glow onto the grounds, bathing them, illuminating them. And in the distance, the trees were silhouetted against the deep velvety sky. The figure sparked under the moonlight. She was dressed in a simple white shirt and long black pants. No thick articles to protect her from the blustery wind that occasionally bite through her pale porcelain skin. The only cloth that keep her warm was the worn out dark red scarf around her neck. An article which Levi had never seen her wearing throughout his two years with the Scout Regiment. It was the woman that made him absent minded the whole night since he had yet to see her around for the past few weeks until this very day.

Levi was enthralled to see the usual expressionless, stoic woman's mask break into pieces when she haltingly knelt before the tombstone, gently brushing off the dried leaves and deliberately placed the bouquet of flowers on top. The man's heart twisted when he saw silvery tears rolled down from her reddish cheeks.

"Eren…" she cried sorrowfully.

Instantly he felt a strange feeling deep within himself, breaking, cracking into pieces. He could feel his heartbeat slamming against his chest wrathfully. His heartache was like a wolf devouring at his chest, tearing its way to his trembling heart. Never did he ever felt so forlorn before, even in front of the deaths of his comrades, he was able to mend and stabilise his emotions to its usual form in no time. But this round, towards her shattered soul, words failed him.

"Mikasa…"

A male voice rung the two raven hair back to reality. Levi narrowed his eyes and discovered another tall, male figure walked out from the shadows, towards the weeping woman. Under the moonlight, the figure revealed his short, light ash-brown hair and tall figure. He was wearing his typical off duty white button-up shirt and dark brown pants. Levi recognized the identity of the man instantaneously from his looks. It was Corporal Jean Kirschtein. He is usually out of town as he is assigned to different top secret missions, directly from Commander Erwin.

Fully aware of that man's presence, Mikasa swiftly wiped off trails of tears from her face and hastily stood up, her glance maintained at the tombstone. Jean narrowed his intense light-brown eyes at the woman before putting his hands on her shoulders, spinning her over to face him forcefully.

"I knew that I will find you here since I didn't see you in the party. You had returned from Wall Sina since yesterday," crowed Jean as he stared into the grey orbs of the woman before him.

She shove his hands off her shoulders and gave him a thin smile. "It's his fourth year death anniversary. I had to be here with him. You should've knew that by now, Jean," Mikasa grunted softly.

"Lilies again, huh? It does suits him well. Devotion towards humanity. It suites you too, Mikasa. Your devotion and obsessiveness towards Eren never dies even though he has already passed on. You need to release yourself, Mikasa, from the ghost of the past…"

"He's not a ghost!" Mikasa retorted with antagonism. "He's not… he's still here with me…"

"M-Mikasa…" Jean faltered heartbreakingly.

She stood vulnerably, staring at the tombstone. Her lips forms a thin line, pushing back the tears that are eager to roll down. "Please…leave me alone, Jean. I will be alright tomorrow, I promise," she quietly plead the ash-brown haired man.

Jean sighed heavily, having no choice but to leave the agony woman behind as he rambled into the darkness once again.

A moment of silence remained in the air where there was only emptiness wrapped by the darkness.

"How much longer do you want to hide behind the tree, Rivaille?" Mikasa intoned, without looking towards the direction where Levi was hiding.

With much hesitation, Levi stepped out under the moonlight and gave an empty look at the woman. "I didn't realise… that you could display such emotions. You have someone that could draw your inner emotions to such state," Levi blurted gingerly, trying hard not to break another piece of her soul.

She snorted at his statement and nodded slightly in agreement. "Only he could… but he's already gone. Thus, there's no reason for me to exhibit such pathetic emotions to the crowd," she blabbered tenderly as she kneeled down again to touch the lilies.

"How did he died?" Levi pushed his guts to question the woman.

She kept quiet for a moment, not fully registered with the sudden query from a man whom she barely knew. He is the last person she thought will throw her such personal question. But somehow, deep down, she felt that she can display a little, just a piece of her susceptible side to him. She swallowed her breath and muttered, voice thick with guilt and distress.

"It was supposed to be me, dying at that day. My reckless got the 'best' of me. I thought I was capable of protecting my team mates, by slashing nearly ten titans in a go. Erwin insisted on retreat but I was too stubborn to follow his instructions. Then, the titans outnumbered us. I was in the sky, with broken blades when a nine-meter was behind me. Its hand was just below my feet…"

She paused. Tears rolling down from her cheeks like pearls. She pursed her lips into a thin line and fists curled into balls, reminiscing the scene in her head. Levi stood next to her, masking himself with the usual expressionless face, while deep in his heart, he felt his deafening heartbeat at her sobs.

Moments later, she collected herself by wiping off her tears harshly. She continued in a raspy blubber, "Eren pushed me to the side and that-thing caught him… and… I see blood everywhere. I didn't…even get to see Eren's face for the last time. Only his words, his last words… _"Live on, Mikasa."_ Lingered in my brain until now. I would've thrown my life away for him…"

His mind was going insane at the out of character woman's actions and words. Staring at the silky raven hair, reddish cheeks, pink chapped and dry lips of hers, Levi had an impulsive urge to claim the woman to himself, force her to unleash her vulnerabilities to him, kill every man that have the slightest opportunity to capture her inner side – especially Jean Kirschtein, _how dare he placed his filthy hands on her_. _Damn it_ , he hissed sharply. That unknown feeling splintered and stirred him excruciatingly. His heartbeat pounded and slammed hard against his chest feverishly, as if it was screeching for a release. The next thing he did was totally out of his control. Stealthy, he knelt beside her, pulling her red scarf towards him and crashing his lips against hers.

Mikasa widen her eyes in shock and froze on the spot. Her brain could not analyse the abrupt situation that showered her. She tried to push him away but instead, he grabbed hold of her wrist, leaned closer and tightened his grip around her neck. "Ri…Rivaille" she struggled to shout his name in between kisses. Levi held onto her tighter and gradually she stopped repelling, thus chose to enjoy the momentary affection.

"Levi. Call me Levi like you did that _night_ ," he corrected her after breaking the kiss to catch his breathe. He cupped her face in his hands and gently lifted her close to his until their foreheads touch. Her once pale skin was replaced with a shade of crimson which she attempts to hide. As soon as the pair of onyx eyes met blue eyes, they flee to hide their bashfulness.

"Live _for_ me, Mikasa," he requested while caressing her cheeks with his thumb.

Mikasa's eyes widen in surprise and broke her stare with his. "No, we can't," she responded like a shot to break any desires from growing. "This is wrong, Rivaille. Stop it."

"You yearn for my touch. You didn't resist my kiss. Admit it," Levi breathed earnestly at her ear. She shivered from his tickling breathe, yet, she restrained herself from drowning into his tenderness. Roughly, she removed herself from his warmth to face him.

"This night never happen, Rivaille. You and I can never cross that line. **Never** ," she blustered lowly as she helped herself up from the ground and rushed back to the castle without looking back.

Looking at the muddleheaded woman, Levi felt his lips curved upwards. He knew that he had sparked a different emotion in her, a new hope, finally. _At least, she is starting to recognize my presence in her heart. It is just the matter of time her mask will rattle in front of me_ , he reckoned with a smirk. Then, he stood up and brushed away the dirt from his clothes, staring down at the tombstone that reads ' _Eren Jeager_ '.

"Even I have to compete against a ghost from her past, I will overtake your existence in her heart, Eren Jeager brat," Levi muttered murderously as he made his way back to the castle.

* * *

Chapter 2 end


	3. Chapter 3 : The Stalk

_Disclaimer: I do not own Attack on Titan or the characters of Attack on Titan. But the idea and some of the characters are mine._

 _Pairing: Levi x Mikasa (I strongly ship them! Hope my readers are in the same boat as me~)_

 ** _Hi guys, Chapter 3 is officially up!_**

 ** _Thank you for waiting and following my story. I hope that you enjoy my work!_**

 ** _Please do leave comments and I'm ready to answer any queries you have in mind~_**

 ** _Thank you! :)_**

 ** _Now, enjoy~ :)_**

* * *

Chapter 3 : The Stalk

* * *

For the next few weeks after the party, Levi did nothing but getting on Mikasa's nerves.

They remained expressionless and stoic in every trainings, expeditions and meetings. However, the nuisance started during off duty and desk work times.

"Mikasa, Erwin ordered you to assist me in this."

"Mikasa, help me with this stack of work since you've already done yours."

"Mikasa, bring me my dinner to my office. I'm too packed up with these nuisance brats' trainings."

"Mikasa…"

It was more than enough for her to hold back. Her last nerve snapped eventually. Agitated, she slammed her burning fists against her desk and stormed out from her office, directly to Erwin's office.

"Erwin! Can't you do something about that midget?! He's been seriously jumping and dancing on my nerves since the last few weeks!" groaned the raven haired girl as her anger stirred furiously in her face.

"Why? I thought you enjoyed my company?" drawled Levi with a smirk, who happened to be in Erwin's office, tagging along the meeting with Hanji.

Mikasa glared daggers at the man, clenching her fist and gritted her teeth furiously. Her form exuded an animosity that was like acid-burning, slicing, and potent. Her face was boiling in lava with suppressed rage and when Hanji even set a finger on her shoulder, she swung around and mentally snapped.

The tension atmosphere was growing rapidly in the room, yet, Levi only lazily placed his chin on the palm of his hand on his chair's armrest, while he watched amusingly at the raging woman.

Erwin smacked his hand against his face and let out a heavy sigh; on the other hand, Hanji was trying dead hard to mute the heaps of giggles before she worsen the situation.

Judging from the seriousness of the situation, Erwin feared that Mikasa may end up starting a war at Levi, tearing half of the castle apart. That thought itself is enough to strike Erwin out, since the two culprits are the famous Humanity's Strongest Soldier combo.

"How about locking them in a room to cool down and let them talk themselves out?" suggested Hanji playfully, her chuckles continued.

"No. They will end up fighting, smashing everything in the room and jumping off the windows for freedom, or worst, tearing down the door itself," rejected Erwin speedily.

"Tch. Erwin, I will handle a brat like her myself," Levi proclaimed, while shooting lethal glares at Hanji who intent to deliver another idiotic idea to solve the situation.

"Brat?! No! Don't listen to him, Erwin! He's nothing but a bastard!" remonstrated Mikasa as she slammed her hands onto Erwin's desk, causing a loud echo in the room. Her burning wrath hissed through her body like deathly poison, screeching a demanded release in the form of unwanted violence. It was like a volcano erupting; fury sweeping off her like ferocious waves.

"I can handle her. She's still out of her mind right now. I don't think that you had seen her in this form for many years, right?" Levi proceeded further to convince his commander on leaving the case to him.

Eyeing the short man and the hysterical woman, Erwin pursed his lips into a thin line. He released another sigh of relief and worry, and nodded to Levi's statement, "make sure you have this fixed by tomorrow. I don't want to start receiving complaints from the soldiers that their corporals are acting like lunatics in the grounds."

"Of course, Erwin…" Levi sassed and then he dragged the boiling Mikasa out of the room and slammed the door shut behind them.

"You know what, Erwin," the ponytail hair woman chortled in a soft, warm smile. "It's been four years since I see Mikasa showing that face aside from her usual lifeless expression. Perhaps, you look through Levi the moment when you decided to bring him into the Scout Regiment. That, he could bring out the inner Mikasa under the light again."

Erwin chuckled and stared towards his door, and finally fixing his attention to Hanji. "I was only fascinated by the fact that how much Levi and Mikasa resemble, in terms of characteristics, behaviour, competency, and not to mention the solitude atmosphere they emanate through their souls, the very first time I met him in the underground world."

Hanji leaned back to her chair and gradually sipped her cup of coffee. Her eyes flickered at the commander, who was also busy tasting his coffee.

"She got too devoted to Eren. After his death, she chose to cast away superfluous feelings and drown herself in all sorts of trainings and dull paper work. Day by day, passing out on her bed without having additional time to mourn about his death. She shut herself in her shell since that day, tightly guarded deep within a maze of thorns." She paused to release a low sigh.

"I attempted to reopen her heart before, even with Jean's tenderness and affection towards her, we never see her exiting her past. Or rather, she chose to stay inside her comfort zone, to avoid being harmed again,"Hanji conveyed in melancholy tone while adjusting her spectacles.

"Which is why, I parked Levi under her. That man's eyes too carries a curse from his past, just like her. But he was strong enough to break from his curse, although it will haunt him sometimes. And I'm sure he will help her through too. Finally, there's some progression between them now. We shall sit back and let them handle this on their own. I have my faith on Levi," chimed the commander as he fixed his clear blue orbs on the woman before him, who too agreed to his plot.

* * *

It was broad daylight. The castle was filled with a mixture of noises from every corner of the corridor. Shouting voices from the training grounds, groaning voices from the annoyed soldiers, humming voices from the good mood soldiers, chuckling voices from friendly soldiers, and mumbling voices from serious discussions blanketed the surroundings peacefully, as if they were all these while, wrapped in a harmonious environment, without any life threatening mission approaching.

Mikasa held back her resentment while she passed by a few confused looking soldiers who greeted both Levi and her with a standard salute. Before the stray soldiers could mutter a word, Levi shut them like a heartbeat with his lethal sights. She soundlessly allowed Levi to hold her by the hand into a lonely alley, he gently pushed her up against a wall, hands locked between her sides, and stared into her eyes solemnly. Due to their height differences, she looked down at the short man with piercing eyes, brewing a storm in her stomach, priming herself to skin him alive.

Levi is positive that he want to claim this woman to himself. To his misfortune, the woman has not vacate a space in her heart yet since she was still mourning over a dead man's death for four years. A man, who he has not met in person, which had the aptitude to dwell in her heart, and to freeze the ticking clock in her, making her a living corpse, interrupting her emotion growth, finally eliminating any possible intrudes.

Her lifeless manner did evoked his past memories where he once had two trustworthy comrades, whom he considered his family, during his dark days in the underground. Life turned bitter and meaningless when he failed to protect them from some random thugs. The beginning of a brand new day was nothing but a pure torture to him when he woke up by the bed frame, sweating his ass out and hissing in agony from the infinite nightmares.

But he managed to ease and contain himself. He had to move forward, for life was never going be easy for him if he were to stay rooted to the memory. His heart did found some tranquillity when he tracked down the thugs and wipe them off. Ever since then, he continued to wonder in the underground world, attempting to fill his solitude soul, until Erwin found him.

"Look," the blue eyed man broke her sweltering concentration. "You may be pissed off at my actions. To make things frank, I do not feel sorry about them and I will never apologize. I don't understand the feeling that stirred in me, but I have no intensions of ignoring it. Well, you just have to accept them anyway."

That statement erupted her volcano simultaneously. Mikasa grabbed Levi by the brown leather jacket and yanked him up to meet her eye level. "Midget, I have no luxury time to deal with your fancy games. If you like messing around, there should be a pool of woman out there for you to choose from, since you are their number one prince charming choice. You just have to throw yourself to them and you will have your prize. **Get-the-hell-out-of-my-personal-life** ," she hollered in a gall and stern tone, as she was going ballistic any second.

Mikasa hated when people started mingling into her personal life. Eren was the only man who could give her warmth and kept her sheltered from the ugly world. They were childhood friends for more than a decade. She sworn to be by his side, to take care of his well-being. He was the sole reason she joined the Scout Regiment and earned her way up the management level, for the purpose of protecting him. Even though he often flew off the handle towards her obsessive and overprotective fashion, he still showered her with fondness until his last breath.

"There's no way that I could've left you alone, dying in your past fantasies" murmured the man in a hoarse voice, while he placed his hand on the woman's face, another hand snaked around her neck, pulling her nape forward, in a very, _very_ deliberate speed, to eliminate the gap between them to its minimal.

The raven haired woman's mind went blank and her heart fell silent. Normal thoughts barely formed in her mind before they were replaced with the melancholy longing and the fantasies of what could be if she were only courageous to reopen her heart to someone like him.

 _But, such dreamy miracle will not happen twice in my life,_ she thought and cackled inwardly. Life turned bitter and rusty the moment _he_ was broken into pieces in front of her, leaving meaningless sunshine and creating endless nightmare to haunt her.

Gaining her senses, she slapped his hands off her face and studied him with a predator's unwavering attention. She then pushed him away to a distance. The woman send a cold freezing gaze on the perplexed man, eyes narrowed, forming a vertical wrinkle between her eyebrow.

"I don't need anyone, _anymore_ ," she preached, voice soft and cool as a prison yard, glaring deep into his bright blue eyes as she crossed her hands below her chest.

"Mi-"

"Mikasa!"

"Corporal Levi!"

Just before Levi could start his sentence, he was cut off by two voices from the other end of the alley. A low voice and the other high-pitched voice. The two recognized the owner of the voices right away.

"Looks like your little girlfriend has come looking for you already, Rivaille. Go back to her," droned Mikasa without looking at Levi as she drifted away from his side, towards the owner of the male voice.

He stood still, frowning over the fact that she will actually squeeze a smile on her face, sincerely, beside that tall cocky man. He observed her back and facial expressions from afar, his anger boiled deep in his system, as hot as lava. It churned within, hungry for destruction and it was too much for Levi to handle.

Hence, he flee the spiteful scene, leaving the blonde haired woman behind who tried to halt him but failed. He shut his ears with a pair of invisible force, and allowed silence to devour him whole.

* * *

Chapter 3 end


	4. Chapter 4 : The Pursuit

_Disclaimer: I do not own Attack on Titan or the characters of Attack on Titan. But the idea and some of the characters are mine._

 _Pairing: Levi x Mikasa (I strongly ship them! Hope my readers are in the same boat as me~)_

 ** _Hi guys. great news! Chapter 4 is up!_**

 ** _Sorry for the delay but rest assured that I will definitely complete this story!_**

 ** _Thank you for waiting and following my story._**

 ** _Please do leave comments and I'm ready to answer any queries you have in mind~_**

 ** _Thank you! :)_**

* * *

Chapter 4 : The Pursuit

* * *

It was now winter. The grounds no longer covered with a blanket of colourful flowers. Under the wintry air and the sky that has born black clouds since the chilling month arrives, scenery around the castle is either as white as pearl or as grey as a newspaper picture. The naked winter trees tried their bests to decorate the castle by capturing the pure white flakes from Heaven on their branches, and formed frosty dangling crystal-like ornaments on them, in replacement of greens and flowers.

The Scout Regiment was at haywire. Every other day, there would be an intense meeting among the high ranking soldiers, to discuss and execute numerous experiments and expeditions. They had buried themselves in missions before the cold weather kicked in and brought the operation to a standstill. Winter was as cruel as the grave. The swirling storm showed no mercy towards any unprotected being. When blizzard marched in, there was no way to know which direction to go, the usual landmarks were hidden behind the white that swirled so densely. Any weakling would be erased by the storm mercilessly.

"Tsk. This weather is killing me," groaned Levi as he ran his hand through his hair. He leaned back onto his chair, massaged his temple to ease the stress from unable to continue any of his ongoing missions due to the overwhelming snow. "How's the progression on the new recruits' training?"

"Oluo and Eld are guiding them well. They should be prepared for battle any minute," replied Petra in a solemn tone as she gazed at her corporal from across his desk.

"Ok then. Get them to keep those brats ready for advanced training whenever they're prepared. The titans will not give luxury time for them to react in the war," couched Levi and he begun working on his piled up paperwork again. "You are dismissed, Petra."

"Yes, Sir," the blonde haired woman saluted and reluctantly removed herself from the chair. Before reaching the door knob, she turned to catch a glimpse at the corporal. _Those dark circles below his eyes had deepen again, but he's still as attractive as ever_ , she thought secretly. Her blush burned through her cheeks and her face felt like a hot oven.

She had been working with Levi for years as his most trusted assistant. She loved the fact that he had personally hand-picked her to be in his squad member from the day he became a squad leader, along with Eld, Oluo and Gunther. They fight along and were extremely familiar with each other's techniques, until they only needed to arch a brow to send messages to each other. Petra admires Levi's capability and management skills, to the extent she would sacrifice on his behalf to accomplish his given mission, to prove her value.

Petra thought that the corporal does not - and will never have the slightest romance feelings towards woman. As from her investigation, Levi never looked any woman in the eye even though there were ample female soldiers who attempted to seduce him. To their dismay, they only received murderous glares from the corporal in return, which sent shivers down their spines, and eliminated their thoughts of earning the 'Corporal Levi's Girlfriend' position.

The brown eyed woman was pleased to see the corporal keeping himself away from any romantic relationships, so she could stay close to him as one of his most valuable comrades, and the only woman in his squad.

However, things started going erratic when Corporal Levi acted offbeat after his promotion to Corporal. It seemed that he was overly attached to Corporal Mikasa, who was once his commanding officer until he was promoted, and he was to report directly under Commander Erwin. _Something happened that night that caused the awkwardness in both Corporal Mikasa and Corporal Levi_ , Petra had been dying hard to find out the truth, but she ended up pounding money down a rat hole. That night remained a mystery.

The last time the corporal acted weird was at the lonely alley, where she and Corporal Jean found him and Corporal Mikasa, together. Levi returned to his usual stoic and frowning nature after that scene. Never did Petra saw Levi again, melding with Mikasa. Even when they passed by each other at the corridor, they never greeted. Their gaze were fixed upfront and were as cold as ice.

"Anything else, Petra?"

At the drop of a hat, Petra was snapped to reality. She looked up to meet Levi's half lidded blue eyes and gathered her courage to voice up, "Erm, Corporal. I was thinking, do you have some spare time now? I'd been working on some combat skills on my own but I couldn't get anyone to supervise my movements. The rest of the team members were as busy as a bee and would always passed out by end of the day before they could mutter a word. Can you look into my moves for a while, for you to get some fresh air out of these desk work too?" she slurred timidly, afraid that the corporal may cheesed off. Her blush seared through her cheeks like wildfire and she attempted to hide her rosy features behind her slender fingers.

Levi arched an eyebrow at her suggestion. He did wanted the hell out of the desk works for a moment, or rather, to burn the paper works into ashes so he could devote himself in trainings to boost his stamina and kick the titans' asses.

Petra stood silently and eagerly for his respond, hoping that she could spend more quality time with the corporal, and for her chance to brew her relationship with him.

"Alright. Let's go then," Levi nodded and he tidied his desk before leaving to the training rooms in a bee line, with the bashful woman beside.

* * *

"Leviiii? Are you inside? I need a favour-" called the spectacles woman as she barged into Levi's office without a knock, as usual. To her surprise, she found his office empty and no sign of him nearby the corridor.

"Hmm, I guess Erwin got it wrong when he mentioned that Levi is supposed to be chained to his desk work today. Where the hell is he? I need him to do a favour though…" Hanji mumbled anxiously after closing Levi's office door.

"Hanji? You are like a cat on hot bricks. Anything I can assist?"

The ponytail haired woman flickered in her eyes when the voice had her full attention. She blinked twice and upbraided stridently, "Mikasa! I'm glad to find you here! Look, I'm actually looking for Levi's help to search for the Echinacea flowers at the west side of the wall Rose – the Krolva district. Since the soldiers are yet to be on missions, now is the right time for us to prepare abundant medications. Well, as you know, the Echinacea can be used to cure ailments like cold. I bet there will be a dozen of men catching colds in a catastrophic weather like this."

Mikasa was fully convinced at Hanji's proposal. They do need to standby a bulk of medications for emergency purposes. Their eyes locked in a shared understanding. "I roughly know the location of the herbal garden at the west. I will fetch the herbs for you, Hanji," Mikasa intoned monotonously.

Hanji studied Mikasa with her level gaze before she replied, "really? It would be great since I can't locate Levi anywhere, plus judging from the grey suspicious, heavy looking clouds, I believe a blizzard maybe emerging in a few hours' time. So, we need to race against time. The blizzard will wipe off the whole garden before we know it."

"I can handle it alone. Wait for my return, Hanji," assured the raven haired woman as she skulked off the corridors in two shakes.

 _Perhaps I should prompt Levi as well, just in case… Now where the hell is that shorty?!_ Wondered Hanji as she strolled off to search the short man.

* * *

"Lift your arms higher. Put more pressure on your right foot instead of your left. Repeat those moves for another fifty times until it leaves a deep print in your brain," barked Levi at the blonde haired woman in the training room.

"Yes, sir!" cried Petra as she continued to sharpen her combat skills after being polished by the corporal.

He officially turned into a demon when it came to training and cleaning, just how he won his titles of being the number one Humanity's Strongest Soldier and Clean Freak. Although Levi was harsh and demanding in his mentoring, his students will experience the pleasure of being tougher in wars. Never once his efforts will go in vain.

Petra was on cloud nine when she rarely had a chance to train with the corporal, _alone_ , in the training room. She often steals a peak at the corporal in training. Salty droplets flow down from Levi's face like soft summer rain, dripping onto the concrete as he push himself further to master the moves. His black tank top is now so soaked in his own perspiration that it needed wringing out and his hair was plastered to his scalp. Nevertheless, his red cheeks, breath panting gesture does not diminish his good features even an inch. Every woman would scream their lungs out while shy ones would pass out on the spot at the scene.

The blonde haired woman could feel the heat growing in her cheeks. By now they must be beyond an attractive rosiness, not only due to the heat from her trainings but also due to the hungry training view of the corporal.

"Are you done with those moves, Petra?" asked Levi out of the blue, in a hoarse voice after completing his intense training.

"Y-yes! A-and, it has just crossed my mind that I forgotten to bring my towels. I will back in a bit!" blabbered the furiously blushed woman as she dashed out from the training room.

 _That look and voice are way too perilous! I will get a heart attack and faint in no time!_ Screamed Petra inwardly as she lumbered to the corridor.

Just seconds after she retrieved her towel, a familiar voice halted her.

"Petra! Gosh, I've been looking for you! Eld mentioned that you were having discussion with Levi earlier today. I tried looking for him all over the place but luck has failed me! Did he mention to you where he was heading after your discussion?" growled Hanji while she wiped her fogged spectaculars with the sleeve of her uniform. Despite the cold weather, droplets of sweat still drained her cheeks and neck.

"Yes, I'm having a training Corporal Levi, Hanji-san. Is there any message that you need me to convey to him?" Petra asked earnestly, while trying to calm the anxious Hanji.

"Finally! Get Levi to go to the west side of the wall Rose to assist Mikasa to bring back Echinacea flowers for me. I initially wanted to seek help from Levi but I couldn't find him in his office. So, I entrusted the mission to Mikasa who happened to be at the same corridor. She had departed an hour ago. The sky is getting heavier each minute and the storm will hit the city any time. I need Levi to support Mikasa just in case she got caught in the blizzard helplessly," insisted Hanji with bated breath.

Petra took a moment to digest the information before she nodded at Hanji, "I will convey the message to Corporal Levi, Hanji-san."

"Great Heavens! Finally I can proceed with my work now. Thanks a dozen, Petra!" replied Hanji while she skipped off the corridor in the blink of an eye.

On the other hand, Petra turned and headed her way back to the training room swiftly. Just before she reach the door knob, a complicated feeling clouded her decision.

 _I do not want to end this personal training with Corporal Levi yet… I enjoy his company and now is my time to have him to myself, just a little longer, until dinner time perhaps? I believe that Corporal Mikasa should be able to return by then, safe and sound, since she was once the Humanity Strongest Soldier (now ranked number two though)… it'd be alright, I trust her competencies,_ mumbled Petra to herself.

She did felt a slight of guiltiness for unwilling to convey Hanji's message to Levi. She just wanted some quality time with Levi. Even though she do admire Mikasa's leadership and talent, somehow in deep her heart, she brewed ugly feelings - hatred, jealousy and envy towards the raven haired woman, after noticing the corporal's out of character behaviours around the onyx eyed woman. Mikasa's presence buzzed around her like a fly that she could not swat. She could not afford to. The whole humanity's hope of freedom counted on Mikasa.

"Finally you're back. I'm going to bite your head off if you are not back in another minute!" hissed Levi when Petra made her way back into the training room. "Get yourself ready on the next step," ordered the short man as he adjusted his wrist gloves and got into position.

"Y-yes, sir!" saluted the blonde haired woman as she brushed off the message out of her brain, and chose to enjoy in her current little world with the blue eyed man.

* * *

"At last, it's time for dinner!"

"I can even swallow a cow alive now!"

"Food… I need food…"

"The weather is like an ice storm war outside! For Goodness's sake, I'm blessed for today's not my turn to be stationed out there."

The once quiet mess hall is now enveloped with crazy laughter, chatters, and many different voices of the soldiers. Meal time is always the happiest moment for each and every soldier, same goes to Levi's squad members. While the rest of his squad members were busy discussing about the training modules and sometimes personal life stories, Levi only inaudibly sipped his tea and devour his meals.

"Leviiiiiii! There you are! I haven't seen you for a whole full day anywhere!" squeaked the familiar voice who never attempted to keep her voice and excitement low.

"Tsk. Get lost and have your dinner in another place, shitty glasses. I want to enjoy my peaceful time," Levi shoot a fatal glare at Hanji who was almost getting on his nerves.

"Quit being a freak, Levi! Look at Jean with his absent-minded stare at the empty seat beside him. I bet he had reserved a place for Mikasa next to him so he can brush off every male soldier's lustful stares at her. Hahaha! Speaking of the Devil, since you are here, Mikasa should be back as well. Is she back in her room?" questioned Hanji while she looked around the mess hall, in search of the tall slender, raven haired woman.

Levi raised an annoyed brow at the brown haired woman curiously. "Why are you asking me that question? I've not seen her all day," Levi spitted blandly as he continued sipping his tea.

"What the-what do you mean that you have not seen her all day? You were supposed to assist her at the Krolva district in retrieving Echinacea flowers! I've told Petra earlier this afternoon…" slurred Hanji and she shifted her gaze toward Petra, who now looked as pale as like as if she had saw a ghost.

"Oh my God, Petra… don't tell me you didn't…" Hanji's cheerful voice instantly turned clipped and filled with a dark edge, her jaw dropped.

"I'm….I'm sorry, Hanji-san! I didn't realized that Corporal Mikasa has not returned yet…" Petra whimpered, voice thick with conviction, guilt.

"What the hell is going on here?! Petra! Spit it out!" roared Levi like a fuming tiger, his fists curled into a ball, anger muscles forming at his temples when he sense the seriousness of the matter. All the soldiers in the mess hall stopped dead in their tracks, moving their attention to the raging Levi, the weeping Petra, and the alarming Hanji. At the same time, Jean carried himself to Hanji's side when he heard Mikasa's name being spelled out in their conversations.

"I… I met Hanji-san earlier this afternoon at the corridor near the training room. She left a message for me to convey to you. It- It's about needing your immediate action to assist Corporal Mikasa at Krolva district before the storm hits the city…" warbled Petra fearfully at the corporal. She bit her bottom lip as hard as she can to ease her shivers and continued on her confession, "I… I just wanted to have some per-personal time with you, which is usually a rare occasion. I th-thought Corporal Mikasa would be fine-"

Before Petra could finished her sentence, Levi slammed the table with his burning fists, gawked at the blonde haired woman, eyes full of animosity and disappointment. He stood up from his chair and moved his attention to Hanji. "How long has she been out there?" he questioned, voiced like hollow wind in a cave.

Hanji locked her stares at her pocket watch before stirring back to Levi. "From the time she left until now, most likely more than six hours," she faltered worriedly.

The crowd was struck dumb at her speech. The journey from the Scout Regiment base to the Krolva district, thru and flow only required three hours by horse. Judging from the extra one fold duration delayed, the possibility that Mikasa was in danger was extremely high, especially when the blizzard hit that district first before arriving at the castle's doorstep four hours ago. The soldiers rooted to the spot, everyone buttoned up until they could have heard a pin drop.

"I will get her back," declared Levi as he started to march his way out from the scene.

Jean, at the same time, halted Levi's skulks with his shaky voice, "I will tag along! I'm worry about Mikasa's safety…"

"Back off, Jean. I don't have the extra energy to take care of another brat in this shitty weather. I will get her back in one piece," goaded Levi as he threw daggers at Jean, who had his eyes narrowed, and lips pursed slightly at the offensive raven haired corporal. "Hanji, get a team to search for us if we haven't return by dawn. I'll leave it to you to explain to Erwin about the situation."

Levi went hell for leather towards his room to prep himself for the search, leaving Hanji in the lurch and the rest of the dumbfounded soldiers, praying hard that the two humanity's strongest soldiers will return, out of harm's way.

* * *

Chapter 4 end


	5. Chapter 5: The Moonlight Snow

_Disclaimer: I do not own Attack on Titan or the characters of Attack on Titan. But the idea and some of the characters are mine._

 _Pairing: Levi x Mikasa (I strongly ship them! Hope my readers are in the same boat as me~)_

 ** _Hi guys. great news! Chapter 5 is up! My little New Year Eve present to all of you._**

 ** _Caution: Smut content ahead._**

 **Again, millions of thank you for all who followed my story. You guys are awesome!**

 ** _Thank you! :)_**

* * *

Chapter 5: The Moonlight Snow

* * *

" _Hey, Mikasa. Don't you think that winter is fascinating? It covers all the dirt with its white blanket."_

" _No. I don't like winter. It forbids me from getting out of the castle without a thick jacket. I can't even train in the outdoor training grounds when it snows."_

" _You sure are a gloomy, no sense of romantic traits woman, Mikasa! Winter is pretty and pure. It is the best season of the year, based on my likings. Let's go out to have a snow fight and build snow castles!"_

" _O…okay. If you say so, Eren."_

Mikasa's eyes shot opened to find that she was surrounded by the shadows of the tall almighty trees, howling winds and swirling snow. The flakes pelt against her frozen cheeks, mostly were cling to her eyelashes and hair. The coldness had numbed her senses and limbs. Exhaling thick frosty air, she struggled to breath in a normal tune.

 _How long I had been unconscious here. It's so dark everywhere_ , she wondered cautiously. She only vaguely recalled that the storm hit the district when she was riding her horse back to the castle, fast and furious. But she was too late when it wrapped her mercilessly from behind, dragging her off her horse, blacking out her mind and burying her into the snow.

Nevertheless, she had to keep moving until she get back to her warm bed. Slowly and steadily, she crawled to lean against a nearby tree, to support herself up from the thick snow. The blizzard was so strong that the familiar sight of the route had been almost erased and it obscured her view completely.

Mikasa raised a gloved hand to shield her eyes and patted the snow off her body before it devoured her into a snowball. The gusty wind blinded her sight when she was finding her way out from the darkness, like a headless creature. It was like walking into a fresh page as the fibres are still being laid down, threatening to make her part of the scenery instead of a person in her own right. All she could do was to bow her head until her chin touched her chest and create chore to break a trail through accumulative snow drifts. Though her feet were beginning to freeze again and her footsteps were small, sinking in past her ankles with each stride, she still had to move forward.

" _There's no way that I could've left you alone, dying in your past fantasies"_

These words came as a bolt from the blue to her. She vividly recalled how Jean attempted to reopen her heart throughout the years, but she only take him nothing more than a close friend, who knew about her past. She was apologetic towards his fondness, yet, she never gave him the hope of light to advance further into her life. She had decided, in front of Eren's grave that she will never ever fall in love again. Yet, here she is, hopelessly searching for that man's presence.

She bit her dry cracked bottom lip until it bleed, as a punishment for missing _that_ man. _That_ sadistic, egoistic, expressionless, idiotic man that tore her barrier apart, bit by bit.

A flurry wind slapped her face and blurred her vision out of the sudden and she returned to the cruel reality.

 _Shitty storm_ , she cursed as she carried herself with bated breath through the winds.

* * *

Splashes of dirt and water dug its way into the man's clothes and boots, causing the man to click his tongue and curse inwardly as he calculated the time needed to remove those stains off his perfectly washed clothes and polished boots.

But he could not afford slowing down his search for _that_ woman. _That_ emotionless, self-centred, brainless, dumb woman.

He rode furiously out of the city, into the naked land before the forest where the herb garden is situated, wishing that he would notice her presence in the storm that tried its best to erase his sight and hope. His green coat flapped wrathfully against the hollow wind, fighting its way to keep its owner as warm as possible. Conversely, the soft crystals still managed to find their way into his jacket in every possible way. He could feel his blood cool and his skin become icy. The cold was a killer.

His eyebrow twitched exasperatingly as the cold almost got his limps frozen – it was driving him up the wall.

" _From the time she left until now, most likely more than six hours"_

Levi's stomach sank when he first heard this, the butterflies in his stomach made him nearly threw out his dinner. His heart was wrapped in icy tentacles so tightly it almost stopped beating. It was devastating but he convinced himself that she was still out there, struggling to return to the castle, to _him_.

He had to find her, mute her and lock her in his world before she started wondering away from his sight again, causing him to go off the deep end. Her presence itself is a poison ivy. A deadly one which he found it bewitching to the extent, he would give up his life for it.

 _Shitty storm_ , he cursed as he continued his journey in the deep pitched-black forest before him.

* * *

Levi stormed into the forest, he allowed his memory to monopolize his body, to feel, sense, and break through the pitch black forest. His eyes had gotten used to the dark, still, his vision is blurred by the blizzard, which had no intension of diminishing its supremacy.

Carefully, he x-rayed every corner, shadows of the dark for the slender, freezing figure.

To his content, he finally spotted a red floating object, which is tightly tugged onto a tottering figure. It was that same worn out scarf she had been wearing since the beginning of winter. He smirked inwardly, having a contradicting feelings of being over the moon – for the fact that she is still alive and down in the dumps – for the fact it was the present from that dead brat that saved her.

Levi shook off the ill thoughts from his mind and hassled to that slender figure.

* * *

"Damn these thick snow. Curse the icing wind. I want to be in my bedroom to enjoy hot cocoa!" Screamed Mikasa frustratingly as she floundered from tree to tree.

"It's a pity I didn't brought any cocoa with me though…"

The voice alerted Mikasa, her eyes that had been narrowed until they are almost shut widen when they found the owner of the voice. She blinked and did a double take at the man to make sure that she was not imagining things. That thought vanished into thin air when he grumbled like a machine gun again.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"Where's your horse?"

"Are you trying to bathe in the snow?"

 _Ah, it's him, without a doubt_ , thought Mikasa as she rolled her eyes.

"Jogging."

"My horse wanted a bath so I went to find a suitable place for it, then we got separated," Mikasa mumbled in a dull and icy tone while shooting lethal scowls at the man.

Levi eyed the woman and let out a heavy sigh. Their arguments usually generated more heat than light. So he decided to drop the squabble and develop efficient actions.

"Hop on. It's freezing and dark here. We need to find shelter for the night before both of us become ice sticks in the morning," he intimated at the raven haired woman in an astonishingly heartfelt tone.

Mikasa soften her eyes towards the man and gave him a small grin before hopping onto his horse. Levi smirked inwardly and muttered lightly, "grab onto me. I don't want you end up a concussion when you fall off my horse."

Mikasa's lips pursed in a thin line, awkwardly, she circled her hands around Levi's waist and leaned nearer to him as per his order. She felt her blood streaming up to her cheeks and hands in the blink of an eye. Embarrassed with her blush, Mikasa hid her burning face in her scarf. The man grin like a Cheshire cat at the woman's action as he steered his horse around to search for shelter.

"Look, Rivaille! There's a house over there. We can finally get rid of this storm for the night," hooted Mikasa excitedly. Feeling pleased, they made their way towards the old abandoned house instantly.

* * *

As soon as they made their way into the house, Levi searched for a candle from his small messenger bag, lidded it and explored the place cautiously, with Mikasa securing his back. The abandoned house was surprisingly cleaner than both of them could had imagined. It had a living room with a long sofa and a rocking chair; a dining area with four wooden chairs and a rectangular table; a small kitchen with cooking tools neatly hung beside each other and finally three doors, two connected to a humble bedroom and another to a bathroom.

Mikasa's eyes sparked. It was a portrait of her dream house - a comfortable, cosy, quiet house that situated deep in the woods, far away from the hustle and bustle. Her eyes wondered around the house, with a little grin on her face, until it disappeared when her eyes met Levi's.

"I like it when you start pouring your true sentiments out freely, in front of _me_ ," the manly voice spoke, as he gave a gentle smile at the flushed woman. "Follow me."

Levi then moved away from her and entered one of the bedrooms. Mikasa followed him blindly into the room. It amazed her more when it was decorated with dangling stars, each of different sizes, at the tall ceiling. Just before she could continue to reconnoitre the room, her stares locked on Levi who started plugging off his cloak and jacket, while hanging them on the chair.

"Remove your clothes, if you don't want to freeze to death for the night," he demanded lowly, and continued to remove his gears and straps, prudently placing them on the table.

Mikasa pursed her lips tightly. She is indeed freezing her hell out in those dammed clothes.

"You can go to next door if you don't want to be here," Levi couched bitterly when he sensed that the woman was reluctant to breathe in the same air as him.

That sentence was like a morning call to her. She was too committed in illustrating her dream house with the ideas from this abandoned house, until she forgotten that this house has two bedrooms.

"I'll be next door if you need me. Goodnight, Rivaille" she intoned, trying to maintain her coolness and flatness in her voice, while receiving another lidded candle from Levi and ambled her way out of the bedroom in a bee line, shutting the door behind her without looking back.

* * *

Tugged in the thin blanket, only with her undergarments, Mikasa grunted in a black mood. The howling sound from the winds, the continuous knocking on the windows behind her bed were getting in her hair. Not to mention when that piece of thin article is insufficient to keep her warm.

There was a closet in the bedroom, but to her dismay, it was empty.

 _I will still end up as an ugly purple monster in the morning if this freeze doesn't go. That freaking blizzard is nowhere getting lesser to increase the room temperature_ , she sighed and cursed at the weather. She slapped her face with both hands when the thought of going back into the former room flashed through her brain.

Despite the awkwardness and embarrassment she will be poured later by Levi, she found herself standing in front of the closed door next to her room, body covered in the thin blanket that she dragged out from the room. _Two persons' warmth is better than one_ , she persuaded herself.

Mikasa inhaled and exhaled heavily, gathered all her courage on that one fist, and slowly knocked on the door. "Ri-Rivaille? Are you still awake?" she questioned in a soft voice, which she believed it was loud enough for that man to capture.

There was no sound from the other end of the door.

The raven haired woman arched her eyebrow impatiently and she tried again.

Still, the door remained shut and silent.

So, she decided to barge into the room instead. P _erhaps he had turned into a purple ugly midget, lips and limbs too icy to move_ , she guessed and smirked inwardly as she slowly turned the door knob and peep into the dark room.

She scanned the room and finally stopped at the figure on the bed. His face was facing the room, back against the wall. After confirming that the man's eyes were tightly shut, Mikasa tiptoed into the room, closing the door as slow and soft as possible, to avoid waking the beast.

Mikasa crept to the side of the bed and haltingly lowered her head to examine the sleeping man. He had securely wrapped himself in the thin blanket, thus she could only see the blanket gradually rise and fall, as a confirmation that he is still breathing ordinarily.

"What do you want, brat?"

Mikasa yelped at the sudden, husky voice of the man. He opened one sleepy eye to shoot a glare at her. The woman had her pupils enlarged, while clenching her bottom lip between her teeth. "I… I was cold…" she murmured diffidently, voice as soft as silk as she clenched onto her blanket firmly.

"For Christ's sake…" groaned Levi as he ran his fingers into his hair and let out a low sigh.

"Come here."

He moved to the side of the bed, near the floor and gestured Mikasa to position herself into the spot, near the wall, where he was sleeping earlier – which had his warmth sucked in.

Mikasa nodded and crawled into the bed, slipped herself into his blanket and flipped her blanket on top of them as a second layer to keep them warm.

"Still feeling cold?" drawled Levi in a sloppy voice. His chin rested on his palm, eyes locked on like magnets at the half-naked woman.

"It's better now," Mikasa mouthed silently and turned her back against the man to face the wall, and cover the light tinge of pink on her cheeks. "Thank you, Rivaille."

"For?"

"Rescuing me and keeping me alive from this _shitty_ weather."

"You are important."

Mikasa felt blood rushing up to her cheeks at that statement, even though she was unsure the truthful meaning behind. She hid her face unconsciously under the sheet.

"Why do you address me as Rivaille? My name is always L-E-V-I," he ejaculated, throwing out the question he had in mind for years since he met Mikasa.

He never fail to recall that faithful day when he first met Mikasa in Erwin's office, he was still a mere Team Leader and she was the famous Corporal Mikasa Ackerman. Although they shared the same surname, they are not linked to each other in any ways.

She carried a stoic and emotionless expression. Her conversation with Erwin was dull and robotic. When she finally fixed her gaze on him, it sent a little shiver down his spines. He wondered, _how can a woman at that young age display an expression like that?_

She was a living corpse or a taciturn machine itself, he decided.

"I'm Levi Ackerman," he greeted insipidly, without bothered to look her in the eye.

"Mikasa Ackerman. Nice to meet you, Levi," she greeted back, with the same dreary eyes.

Erwin spotted the invisible spark between these two beings and kept his smirk in his throat. "Both of you will be working together more often from now on since I will be packed with endless paperwork. Try to keep the voltage to a neutral level, are we clear?" he expressed his concern out loud.

"Crystal," Levi drawled sloppily. Mikasa, on the other hand, just nodded in agreement.

"Okay, both of you are dismissed," Erwin responded, voice a little relaxed.

The moment he closed the door behind him after Mikasa stepped out from Erwin's office, she muttered lowly, "I will take my leave now, see you later, Rivaille."

He arched a brow at the weird name that rolled out from her mouth. He shoot a lethal glare at the raven haired woman, but unfortunately, she had already disappeared in the next turning at the end of the corridor.

Levi waited silently for her explanation. Finally, he can have a peace of mind and wipe this question off his crammed brain.

Mikasa flickered at the question and intoned sluggishly, "I was just pronouncing your name in my mother's native language. An enthralling language that I can never speak to anyone anymore. But I guess, you didn't like it, huh?"

The man paused for a moment of thoughts. He did not realized that the topic could bring bawling memories of hers. Still, he kept his coolness and murmured indistinctly, "I still like to be called Levi."

"Depends on my mood, then," she teased evilly.

Levi rolled his eyes, dived into the side of the shared pillow and never reply again.

* * *

Mikasa blinked her drowsy, watery eyes at the plastered wall, which was illuminated by the moonlight through the window. She was tired, worn out from the date with the storm. However, the presence beside her caused her a muscular tonicity, her mind caught in a carousel of thoughts, making her unable to fall asleep.

Slowly, she rolled onto her other side and looked at him. She was confirmed that he was not asleep when she spot a quick arched eyebrow.

"Rivaille, do you like winter?" she decided to break the silence.

Levi adjusted his position a little and opened his eyes to meet those onyx orbs. "No. It's the worst season of the year. I had to double my cleanings routines to keep my office, room and clothes dry and spotless."

"Mhm… I disliked winter too until someone told me he adores winter, especially the activities that can only be done during winter time," Mikasa mumbled in a soft voice. Her eyes turned gentle as she was recollecting the sweet memories she shared with _him_ in the snow.

Levi noticed it and cheesed off. His felt his stomach sank to the deep black hole, his gaze blew a fuse, but he struggle to get hold of his temper. He sat up straight soundlessly, and the woman mimicked his action.

"Ah, thinking about that brat again? For crying out loud, you should seriously cut it out," Levi blurted in an annoyed tone. He still failed to keep his composure, after all.

Mikasa eyed the fuming man with her usual poker-faced look. "You can't erase a person's existence from another person's memory even though he's no longer around."

"At least…stop mourning over his death and go live a life of your own!" Levi paused. He did not want to reveal his true feelings of having the urge to claim her and fill her little mind with his presence _alone_. He cursed his luck for not able to encounter this woman earlier than that brat. However, that thought vanished into thin air as soon as he reckoned that her personality traits may not be as attractive as she was now. It was her painful and sorrowful past that created the current her. A woman full of lies, masks and blandness, which managed to dig her way into his heart and turned his life upside down.

She shot a cold gaze at the man. However, the cold gaze soon turned into a miserable plead as her tears flowed unchecked down her cheeks and dripped from her chin. "Let me die…in my shell then. I… I don't want to experience that hell again. At the very least, I will have peace in my life, albeit I had to wonder in my nightmares, waking up in the middle of the night in soaking wet clothes and face, recalling those lively eyes that once looked at me with love."

Her sobs were stifled at first as she attempted to hide her grief, then overcame by the wave of her emotions she would break down entirely, all her defences washed away in those salty tears. She clasped onto Levi's bare chest to support her shivering body. Her mask had crumbled and flushed down with her tears, disclosing her vulnerabilities to the man before her. It was a risk for her, for she had never failed to weaken her guard against anyone for the past few years after Eren's death. Somehow, deep in her mind, she felt that she could trust him with her vulnerabilities, or rather, she might even want to seek warmth from this man.

Levi felt his heart shaken furiously because of her spontaneous overflow. He had never seen her being so weak and sentimental before. This woman wanted death, which was why she had been like a living corpse, a masked human. His orbs widen at the sobbing woman. When she crashed onto his chest, wetting his body with her hysterical cries, his mind went bananas.

"I will not let you die, _as long as_ I live. We will have another exquisite fifty, sixty, unlimited years ahead. I will find and build a home, exactly the way you want it to be, for _us_. We will have a bright future together. At least, I will work hard to make that dream come true. I promise. Mikasa, live with me," Levi confessed sincerely with a smile, his voice as gentle as melting honey. He nearly jumped out of his skin when he said those words. But he do not regret it. He did want to claim her, by all means.

As expected, Mikasa's eyes were on stalks when Levi finished his speech. Her jaw dropped and her sobs ceased. It sounded like a confession to her. "Are you confessing to me?" Mikasa's face glowed red instantly when she stared into those blue eyes burning with desires. She had the urge to flee from the scene but he was quicker. He grabbed her wrist and curled his hand around her waist, pressing her body onto his as he slammed his lips onto her rosy pink lips.

 _Thump_

Mikasa felt her heart clouting against her chest. She tried pushing Levi away but he leaned in and held her tighter, pinning her against the wall. Mikasa let out a surprised grunt and her breath hitched tight in her throat. Her eyelids became heavier at the aroused kiss and she finally shut it and gave in to him. She ran her fingers into his hair and another hand went up to the back of his neck, pulling him towards her.

Levi smirked inwardly. He bit her bottom lip to acquire entrance, and she allowed it by parting her lips and wrestled her tongue heatedly with his. He angled his head to deepen the kiss and continuously leaving small bites on her lips. She moaned softly at the pleasure, boosting his motivation to go further.

He moved downwards, planting kisses on her jawline, collarbone and neck, leaving visible kiss marks along the way, as a prove that she belongs to him.

"Call my name," he demanded in a little stern voice.

"Le-Levi…" her voice trailed off as he opened his eyes and claimed her lips again. At last, she was addressing him correctly. He loved how his name rolled out from her mouth, sweet and stimulating. He kissed her hungrily and passionately and intensely, savouring all of her. His hand rove all over her body and their breathing became rough and fast.

Then, his hand went down to the back of her bra and undo the strap. He continued planting kisses on her chest while pulling down her bra and tossing it across the room. She gasped when he licked and sucked her nipples, letting out a low moan. Levi's hands instantly manoeuvred her body, lay her flat on the bed, and sent the blankets flying off the bed.

Both of them were in their undergarments since the snow had dammed their clothes. Mikasa stared at Levi's washboard abdomen, the heat of desire rushed into her face. Her pink cheeks grew brighter when she realized that her bare breasts were already exposed to him. She tried covering them but his dominance overpowered her and she had no choice but to allow him to take control again.

"Beautiful. You're beautiful, Mikasa," he whispered in her ear, while a hand snaked to palm her breast.

She gasped at the sudden touch and further moaned into his hair when he moved to nibble her nipple. The feeling was new and unknown to her, but she adores it when it was Levi who was the reason of it.

"I want you, Mikasa." He breathed affectionately against her naked skin.

It was a statement instead of a question. Though, he decided to gain her consent before moving forward, as he would be remorseful if she regretted it the next day.

"Mhm." She bashfully nodded.

He grinned and move downwards, kissing her body, legs and finally up to her inner delicious thighs. He fanned out her legs and buried his face in between. Mikasa shivered from the goosebumps rose from his delicate touch. Noticing that her black panties had dammed with her sweet juice, he took a lick on it playfully, which earned him a loud moan from the woman.

"Levi… take it… off…" Mikasa plead, her eyes clouded with lust as she dug her fingers onto his muscular shoulders, panting her breath heavily.

Instead of removing it, Levi started rubbing her panties against her core with his finger, causing her to release a moan. As the little piece of lace article is getting soaked with her fluids, he remove it with his teeth, revealing the whole of her in front of him. Mikasa blushed deep crimson at Levi's deeds and bit her bottom lip erotically.

"Pervert… Sadistic… shorty…"

Levi grinned evilly while he slipped a finger into her and moved slowly. Her back arched up at the sudden pleasure. Mikasa tangled her fingers into his hair and moaned his name softly. Levi moved his head up to claim her lips, their tongues entwined, while started picking up speed and added another finger into her.

"Le-vi…" Mikasa mumbled between their kisses, it turned her on when he moved to suck and licked her nipples, and further down to lick her pearl. He enjoy the sounds of her moans, the noises of her juices splashing against his fingers and how she called his name pleasurably. Just before she hit her climax, he stopped and removed his fingers from her. The overflow essence made their way out from her, like waterfall.

Levi naughtily lifted his head up and sucked the sweet juices off his fingers in front of Mikasa. She stared at him with parted lips and heavy breath. She could feel small pulses from her soaked bare. It made her grow unexpectedly licentious. She grinned lightly and purred, "Fuck me, Levi…"

"As you wish, slutty brat," Levi nodded and he took off his boxers briefs.

Mikasa flushed furiously when she saw the size of his aching member. Levi smirked at her reaction and kissed her briefly.

He slowly thrust into her and stopped when he was fully inside. He noticed a stray hair hanging by her face, stained with her tear. She was in pain. "Do you want to stop?" Levi watched Mikasa caringly and tugged the stray hair behind her ear, he did not want to leave an appalling nightmare to this woman. Thus, he caressed her cheeks and planted kisses on her forehead and lips to ease the pain.

Mikasa smirked and shooked her head lightly. Levi, who caught her message, secretly rejoiced within his desires. Without further ado, he savoured her lips for another heated kiss, muffled her moans as his tongue meshed with hers before moving on again. "It'll soon be better, I promise," he reassured warmly and thrust into her gently, after kissing her inner thighs and hooking her perfectly toned legs over his firm elbow.

"Urghh…" Mikasa hissed lowly as she felt him hitting against her soft walls with that big member of his. As he promised, the pain gradually faded, replaced by an intense felicity and euphoric sensation. She wrapped her legs around Levi and let out low growls. Levi then started increasing his pace and thrust harder into her, winning wilder groans in return.

"Levi…" she started calling his name again and again between moans when he pounded into her hardly, roughly and speedily. Droplets of sweats, clashing of body increased the scent of ecstasy in the room. Mikasa arched her back and dug her nails into his back, feeling the pleasure increasing every second, and her walls tightening his member.

Levi hissed and slammed his member into her faster, tightening his grip on her hips, fucking her until he outreached his limits to please both of their desires.

He knew she was hitting her climax when her moans grew louder and out of control. So was he, when he continued to thrust his member as fast and hard as he could until he could not hold it anymore. He let out a low groan and emptied himself inside her, along with her essence that covered his member like a layer of milk.

Panting heavily from the intense exercise, Mikasa felt her body was like floating on a cloud. The orgasm numbed her senses for a minute and soon she felt refreshed, a new feeling that she never experienced before.

Levi pulled out of her and plopped next to her. Mikasa rolled to his side and lay on his chest to listen his thunderous heartbeat. She cackled and eyed Levi, gaze sharpened like a dark queen looking at her filthy servant. "Tired already? You have aged, midget."

He returned her glare heatedly. "Who said so?" he sent an evil smile to the woman beside him, which drove goosebumps down her spine. "I'm not done with you yet. We have all night to play this game."

In the blink of an eye, Levi flung Mikasa up and positioned her on top of him. She felt her cheeks turned crimson again when his rubbed his swollen bulge against her butt. She stared at Levi in an innocent look, trying to figure out what was he plotting until he ordered in a low, sexy voice.

" _Dance_ on me."

Mikasa flushed heavily at his _order_ but her cravings overpowered her mind. Carefully, she placed his member between her thighs, and slowly thrust it into her damp opening. Both of them let out a low groan when they became one. As soon as comfort wrapped them, Mikasa begun moving her hips while Levi clenched onto her thighs to stabilize her shaky form.

With this, they made love with each other all night long until it drained their stamina to the fullest and lay fainted on the bed.

* * *

Chapter 5 end


	6. Chapter 6 : A New Chapter

_Disclaimer: I do not own Attack on Titan or the characters of Attack on Titan. But the idea and some of the characters are mine._

 _Pairing: Levi x Mikasa (I strongly ship them! Hope my readers are in the same boat as me~)_

 ** _Hi guys. Chapter 6 is up! This will be my final chapter and I made it extra long :)_**

 ** _There will still be another epilogue to wrap up my story. Stay Tuned!_**

 ** _Caution: Smut content ahead._**

 ** _I hope that all of you enjoy this and many thanks for following me~_**

 ** _Thank you! :)_**

* * *

Chapter 6 : A New Chapter

* * *

A ray of sunlight shone through the crystal window. The wicked weather had finally ended at midnight, leaving traces of its works all over the forest. The white glittery snow enveloped the house, making it looked like a piece of artwork made of sugar.

Mikasa's eyes lazily rolled open, glazed over with the remnants of a dream. She blinked gradually to adjust to the glaring sunlight that peeped through the window and brightened the room. A warm breathe by her nape made her ticklish. It forced her to recall the saccharine activity the night before. His scent and touch still lingered around her body, causing her heart to race, cheeks to blush scarlet. When she tried moving her hand, it was clasped to a firm manly hand, which stretched across her shoulder. Her head, on the other hand was rested on his muscular arm.

In order not to wake the beast, she gently unclasp her hand and carefully shifted her position to face him. His features were much softer in sleep. The lines that usually creased his eyebrow are at peace. The usually pursed into a thin white line lips is parted as he lightly snored, exhaling warm breathes. Despite his actual age, he possessed a youthful appearance, which could easily deceive anyone if he were to lie about his age. Mikasa studied his sleeping look with a warm gaze, her inner self secretly brewed a touch of excitement, reminiscing the lovely moment she shared with this man.

"Enjoying yourself, huh?"

Mikasa yelped and gasped at the sudden voice from the sleeping man. Levi shot open his half lidded eye and grinned lightly at the surprised woman.

He then retrieve his hand and place it on her cheek, caressing it as gentle as possible.

"Good morning, Mikasa," he greeted.

Mikasa pressed her face to his hand after placing a perk on his wrist. Her face suffused with a sugary smile. "Good morning, Levi," she replied.

Levi felt a smile stretch his lips. He adored this little magnificent, carefree moment, especially with the woman he cared and, probably loved. It was a feeling he had never experienced in his life before. Thus, he dared not mutter that word, by all means, unless he was ascertain about his feelings towards her.

At the same time, he was also fearful that this blissfulness will slip away from him. A gloom covered his face gradually when he recalled that _his_ presence was above him in her. _How far had they ventured together?_ He thought alertly as he looked at the woman before him, his mind full of questions.

Mikasa sensed the change of atmosphere but was unaware of the cause. Consequently, she sent an ingenuous and puzzled stare at Levi.

Unable to contain his curiosity, Levi coughed a little and faltered, "Who was better?"

Mikasa arched an eyebrow at the question. "What do you mean?" she entreated while attempting to analyse the question for a moment. Unfortunately, she had no clue about it.

Levi felt his cheeks heated up. He stared into the distance before moving back his gaze to the raven haired woman.

"Something to do with last night… who made you feel better?" he tried again in another way to interpret his doubt.

Mikasa blinked her onyx orbs, and as a final point widen them after she caught what he meant. She lowered her head timorously and avoided his stares. Her eyes jumped from her hand to his gaze continuously, her cheeks flushed furiously.

She had never experienced such moments with a man before, not even with Eren. Their relationship were simpler, or rather, Eren never had the guts to move out of their comfort zone.

Levi stayed silence at her blushed look. He appeared not to be concerned about her answer, but deep down he was like a cat on hot cakes.

"You… are my first man…" Mikasa whispered softly into his ear.

He flickered at her answer. All of the sudden, his gloominess was blown away and he was at cloud nine. Relived and overwhelmed glee, he pulled Mikasa over for a passionate kiss.

"Mhmmm…" Mikasa moaned softly when Levi's tongue entered her and indulged her taste wildly.

He was so good at it, until she sunk in depression. Her sounds began cascading gently. Levi noticed it and he pulled away, eyes locked onto the hypothymergastic woman.

"What's the matter?" he asked.

"I wonder how many woman you had before me," Mikasa sulked and she turned her gaze away from him.

Levi pursed his lips into a thin line, tongue tied. He slowly sat up, pulling Mikasa up from her laying posture as well. The blanket fell down, revealing her bare body to him. Just before Levi could react, she had swiftly wrapped her exposed body with the blanket. He ran his fingers through his hair before fixing his gaze back at the onyx eyed woman.

He took her hand onto his and placed a deep kiss on it. "Mikasa, you are my first woman too," he admitted.

Mikasa raised her eyebrows and snorted lowly, "liar. Your performance don't seem like one."

"Well, there were many outdoor open sex in the underground. I learnt from their live shows."

"And they didn't invite you to join them? I bet that there're many women willing to throw themselves to you, with your _looks_."

"I have hygiene issues. Besides, I can't get hard if I have no interest in the woman."

Mikasa giggled at Levi lightly, her finger drew circles on his hand teasingly, before she continued, "So…how you want to define this relationship? Fuck partners?"

Levi paused and sank into his thoughts. They indeed made love yesterday, out of sincerity and ardent. But he still dared not say whether that was love, he had taken a fancy to this woman ever since he joined the Scout Regiment. She never wore her heart on her sleeve, which was the reason he was attracted to her so much, to the extent he wanted to rip her apart, dug her heart out and scrutinized it. He had been quite honest with his feelings though, sometimes. Sending murderous glares to eliminate unwelcomed women's craving, snarling orders at his squad members to build their fortitudes to avoid them from getting killed in the field, driving a woman he held fondness up to a wall to express his affection towards her. However, he just needed some time to confirm his feelings towards her, whether was it love or just merely likeness.

Same goes to her, when she only had Eren Jeager for the past more than ten years in her mind. Last night was the first time she poured everything onto another man besides Eren. And he wrapped her warmly, gladly, pleasingly. She projected illusion of herself as a high rank soldier, so did he. Yet, at the very least, he was courageous enough to show his affection towards her. A step of recognition that she will never considered taking until after what happened last night. She did somehow had some kind of fondness towards this man, which she hid carefully behind her feelings for Eren, fearful that Eren's existence may be taken over by him. Thus, she needed to clear her mind, to recognize and confirm her feelings towards him, whether was it love or something else.

"We do not have to put a label on this relationship so soon, until we recognize our feelings towards each other. We need some time," Levi persuaded as he peeked at her emotions through his bangs.

"Need time… I see. Are you sure? I'm sure that you will be the one _begging_ to claim me instead," Mikasa pestered devilishly.

 _What a sadistic_ , Levi thought with a smirk.

"Don't get cocky, brat. We shall see who will be the last man standing," he concluded and leaned in to Mikasa, his breath went rougher. Just seconds before their lips touch, they heard echoes from the woods.

"Mikasa!" "Levi!"

They jumped and stared into each other's widen orbs. The voices took them unawares.

"Shit. It must be the rescue team. I requested Hanji to send a rescue team to look for us if we haven't return by dawn. Get dressed, Mikasa," grumbled Levi as they both get ready like greased lightning.

* * *

"Levi! Mikasa! Thank goodness both of you are still alive! We were on pins and needles the whole night when neither of you return to the base. Did you get any injuries?" exclaimed Hanji as she tied her horse onto the tree and rushed over to the abandoned house when she saw both of them exited it.

"No. We are fine, four-eyes. Keep your voice down. You are giving me a major headache," groaned Levi as he glared daggers at the pony tailed woman, causing her to stay rooted on the ground.

"Mikasa!" a male voice hollered as he made his way, ignoring Levi, directly to the woman who was walking down the slippery steps. In spilt seconds, she was in his embrace.

"Thank God… Mikasa… you're alive," warbled Jean as he rested his head on her shoulder.

"Awwwwww. Look at that!" Hanji screeched and let out a whistle. Little did she know, the short man beside her was already burning in flames, his fists began to clench and his jaw rooted. He was about to launch an attack at that tall man if she did not remove herself from his embrace on time.

"I'm fine, Jean. Let's go back," Mikasa positioned her hands on Jean's shoulders and pushed him backwards gently.

"Y-yes. Let's go back, Mikasa," stuttered Jean as he attempted to contain his recklessness. "Has your horse gone missing?" he asked when he noticed there was only one horse tied to the pillar of the house.

"Yea… we got separated in the blizzard. I hope she will find her way back to our base though," replied Mikasa monotonously.

"I see. Then you can ri –"

"Come here, Mikasa." Levi cut Jean off with a piercing glare before he looked back at Mikasa. He motioned her to hop onto the back of the horse after he helped himself up.

"Okay…Levi" Mikasa murmured softly and grinned inwardly, her face masked with her usual stoic expression. Levi steered his horse and rode off hastily once she wrapped her arms around his waist.

This time, Hanji captured the eccentric aura between those two soldiers. She silently chuckled and giggled and whispered to herself, "I bet something fun happened last night in that house. I'm so going to tell Erwin about this unexpected advancements!"

Levi steered his horse smoothly through the trees, carefully dodging obstacles around him and increased its speed whenever he hit a long flat trail.

Mikasa knew that Jean had made his hackles rose, from that embrace. She smirked lightly and enjoyed his reaction. She then, whispered to the shell of his ear, as she leaned in, "I thought you mentioned that we need time to think about our relationship? You were about to tear your hair out back there."

"That brat is head over heels in love with you. I don't like _my_ woman to be surrounded by flies," Levi growled lowly and he tightened his grip onto the strap.

" _My_ woman? Since when I agreed to be your woman?" Mikasa countered.

"Shut up. You will beg to be mine tonight." Levi simpered with a smirk.

"In-your-dreams…"

The moment they reached the entrance of their base, they were warmly greeted by the soldiers that waited anxiously by the door.

Mikasa hopped off Levi's horse effortlessly and strode graciously to her team. Her young female team mates burst into tears when they wrapped their hands around her. A small smile left her lips as she patted their shoulders and heads to calm their shivered souls.

Levi remained stoic when his eyes rested on the only female soldier of his team. Leaving his horse to Gunther, he made his way to the blonde. His aura was lethal, sending goosebumps to most of the soldiers nearby.

Mikasa sensed the change of atmosphere when chatters were wiped off by the abrupt tension. She carefully peeled herself from her team and turned her focus to Levi.

"Meet me at my office an hour later, Petra," he snarled at the tongue tied, trembling girl, who was standing at the foremost line of the soldiers. Her back was almost crooked by his invincible aura.

Mikasa raised a clueless brow at his vexation. Before she could process the situation, his voice rung again, loud enough for Hanji, who had just arrived at the castle to capture, "Mikasa, Hanji, I expect both of your attendance too."

And, he disappeared into the castle, leaving fiery footsteps behind.

* * *

"Do you realise the seriousness of the matter, Petra?"

His fingers drummed impatiently on his desk. His question thick with venom, frustration and downcast.

Petra stood nervously with her hands tightly grabbed onto the sides of her white pants. She bit her lips and swallowed a lump in her throat before she faced the fury corporal again.

"I...I'm terribly sorry, Corporal Levi. This was a childish mistake that shouldn't be done in the first place," she replied. And she was ready to accept whatever punishment that will fall on her.

Sensing the increased anxiety in the room, Hanji interjected jokingly, "Levi, since Petra had apologized and Mikasa is unharmed, you can just throw any punishment to her, like clean the stable for a month, clean the toilets for a month or…"

"I don't need you to teach me how to educate my squad," Levi snarled with a deadly glare. Hanji raised both hands up in defeat and slumped into the chair. She peeped a glimpse at Mikasa who was also seated beside her, as usual, Mikasa remained expressionless and bored.

"Petra, you might had indirectly killed our best soldier, do you understand?" Levi admonished. A jarring vane cracked at his temple. The thought of Mikasa might be dead in the woods blew his top.

The soldier at question lowered her head and bit her bottom lip in remorse, as she fought to keep her tears in her eyes.

Just as when Levi was prepared to fire another harsh statement again, a feathery touch reached his balled fist gently.

"I'm safe, Levi."

"I'm safe," she parroted softly. "So, just calm down before you speak something you don't mean it," whispered Mikasa as she secretly brushed Levi's fingers to ease his resentment, and retreated before being detected by the sharp woman beside her.

Her serene voice shielded his final layer of nerve before he started blasting the worst curses he had ever articulated at the blonde.

Levi pinched the bridge of his nose and leaned back to his chair. His was highly disappointed in Petra, one of his best handpicked squad members, who was obedient, let him down.

He let out one final sigh before chanting his music, "Petra, you will be stationed outdoor for a month, stable cleaning for three months and you will be helping Hanji on whatever ongoing experiments, am I clear?"

Petra fisted her right arm on her left chest and saluted without a doubt, "Yes, sir!"

"Dismissed," Levi motioned her to leave as he picked up a document from his desk to examine.

Without further ado, Petra stepped out swiftly, shutting the door silently behind her.

Hanji eyed Levi cautiously before she chimed, "well, you can't really blame Petra for that. She's been carrying the torch for you since a long time ago…"

"Hanji, do you want me to burn down your lab?"

"Ah..ha! I just remembered I have some undone business. Bye Mikasa! I'm glad that we got you back in one piece…" Hanji's voice trailed off in the corridor and the door was once again shut.

The blue eyed raven palmed his face with exasperation before facing Mikasa, who was now resting her chin on the table, above her folded elbows.

"What a popular man. I'm accustomed impressed," mocked Mikasa sarcastically.

Levi rolled his eyes and swung the paper to the side as he tried to grab hold of Mikasa's wrist. To his dismay, Mikasa had removed herself from her chair and headed to the door at the drop of a hat.

"I still have training sessions with my team. See you later, Levi." Mikasa expressed lowly and reached for the door knob. Little did she realized, Levi was already a step behind her.

He hauled her backwards, spun her and pulled her to his eye level. He crashed his lips to hers and savoured her greedily.

"I only…want you, Mikasa," Levi breathed each word profoundly between kisses. Whether the man meant it temporarily or permanently, it was out of her concern at that moment. All she wanted was to devour him alive while she could.

A thin smile curved at the side of Mikasa's lips as she pulled him closer to deepen the kiss.

Once they parted for air, he attacked her pale neck after removing her scarf, leaving visible teeth marks and hickeys along. She muffled her moans into his hair at the pleasure.

"I will see you in your bedroom tonight, Mikasa," he murmured against her skin. She nodded and rested her eyes on him lustfully, luring Levi to claim her lips again, which he pleasingly did.

* * *

Mikasa woke up to the chirps of birds. The early morning sunlight, soft and diffuse, although seemed cooling, but it promise a touch of warmth within. Winter has finally completed its journey and passed on its baton to spring. It is a magical season where pure white snow start fading away, giving way to a palette of colours to paint the world into a lively and animated one.

She was not alone in her icy bed anymore. She stared down at his peaceful face, wanting nothing more than to curl up into the curve of his body, she turned around and pulled the blanket up over her shoulder.

They maintained seeing each other in the dark, without disclosing their relationship to the world.

In public, they will show their typical façade. Their existence itself was like a living celebrity to the world. Even though they disliked being in the centre of attention (although they are already one, in their individual spotlight), they still refused to remove their armour. May it be a form of pride or an unconscious ideologism, which made them adore the moment of being a war God.

In private, their affections towards each other grew stronger and wilder every day. His possessiveness towards her, too, boiled vigorously. Whenever they crossed each other at some lonely pathway, he would yank her to the wall and fulfil their soaring yearns.

* * *

This day, Mikasa had a hectic day with her new recruits, and the mountains of paper work that lied on her desk, increasing mercilessly every other day. She was foaming at the mouth by just staring at them, until she would burn the whole stack into ashes if she could. The moment she completed two full mountains of paperwork, it was already one in the morning, which was when she had enough. She was ready to drop anytime.

After locking her office door, she lumbered back to her chamber, eyes lid almost closing. It was a moonless night. The pathway was eerie, wrapped by the pitch-black darkness. The night spring wind blew coolly into her cloak, and cut through her skin, making her body shiver. She quicken her pace and in seconds, she reached her bedroom. Immediately she unlocked it and entered, not forgetting to lock it.

Letting out a loud sigh, she slowly ambled to her closet without lighting a candle, and started removing her cloak, leather jacket, straps, boots and uniform, leaving only her cream undergarments. She neatly arranged her belongings in her closet, retrieved a clean towel and made her way to her bathroom. She was so absent-minded until she did not realized that her bathroom was preoccupied.

She flung open the door, the sudden brightness blinded her sight. Mikasa squeaked inwardly and regained her vision within seconds. She narrowed her eyes, arched a brow at the man who's taking his own sweet time in the bathtub, _her_ bathtub. Several candles were lidded around the bathroom and it was filled with bamboo aroma, a soothing scent that could relive her heavy body.

"You are late," he blabbered softly. His closed eyes were covered with a small warm towel, arms hung by the sides of the bathtub, back and head rested against the wall. Mikasa rolled her eyes at the carefree man as she start removing her undergarments and stepping into the shower.

"I don't remember promising a bath date with you, though," she blurted lowly while shampooing her hair.

They remained silence until Mikasa finished cleaning herself and slid into the hot bathtub to join Levi. She rested her head by his shoulder, her body on top of his, back facing him and her legs between his. Satisfyingly, she let out a low exhale. His body is fit and muscular enough to embrace hers. It was definitely more comfortable as compared to the hard as a rock bathtub wall.

"You adore my company, though," Levi smirked as he took the towel off his eyes, his head moved down to support her head from falling sideward. He embraced her body gently in the waters. Gradually, the temperature in the bathtub escalated.

"I'm tired… the paperwork is killing me softly…" groaned Mikasa as she blew bubbles in the water, trying to release her tension.

"I have tons of work too. Someday I'm going to kick Erwin's ass. He never say that there'll be mountains of work after promoting me," grumbled Levi in agreement.

"Count me in too."

Levi gazed at the frisky looking Mikasa. Although they were both always packed with work, they never failed to find each other during the night to release their pressure. He was her oasis. She was his utopia.

Feeling Levi's awaken member, Mikasa raised a hand to cup his cheek, leaning close to kiss him gently. Her hand sneaked down his toned abdomen and grabbed hold of his throbbing flesh. Levi hissed lowly at the abrupt pressure. He pulled Mikasa closer to deepen the kiss. Mikasa slowly stroked his rocky member, feeling every muscle of it with her fingertips. She accelerated her speed when she sense that he was going to hit his climax. "Arghhh, Mi-Mikasa..." Levi moaned softly and bit her bottom lip to hold back his voice.

Mikasa smirked with contentment when she felt a warm fluid flowing out of him, staining her fingers and the water. He breathed heavily, lips parted in sighs and eyes clouded with pure satisfaction.

"Ah… you just dirtied the bathtub water," complaint Mikasa as she retrieve her hand and savoured his thick fluids off her fingers. Levi stared blankly at her action as he licked his bottom lip. He felt his heartbeat started rising, and breathe became heavy again, in a sexual way. He broke his stares and marched to the showers, leaving the raven haired woman in the polluted bathtub.

He turned the water on high and let it beat over his head in steamy rivulets, his eyes closed, enjoying the raindrop massage. Mikasa followed the flow of the water that spat down from his head to toe. Her lips parted as she inhaled deeply, the site was a turn on for her. The water dripped down his hair softly. And the drops slowly made their way to his body and the perfect abs he have. The water defined his well, organized and obviously delicious looking body.

Levi cracked an eyelid and grinned at the gawking woman. "You're drooling, brat. Joining?" He invited in a lewd tone.

Mikasa's cheeks turned pink but she fought internally to stabilize her heartbeat. She rose and helped herself out the bathtub, waded towards the showers, purposely keeping her speed as slow as possible.

He ogled her, sluggishly grew impatient with her slow motion movements. As soon as she was at his reach, he grabbed her by the shoulders, spun her so her back was against the heated wall tiles. Throwing a leg between her hips and closing the space between their bodies, he tugged her down to his eye level and spoke in a hoarse whisper in her ear, "I know you want this, badly."

Levi grabbed her and hoisted her up the wall, her legs wrapped around his waist to balance herself in the air. Then, his hand sneaked beneath her butt and pushed his hips towards her to steady the position. Another hand of his rubbed his throbbing rock against her moist core.

Their breathings became heavier and cheeks grew crimson through the process. Avidly, Levi crashed his lips onto Mikasa. He sucked and bit her bottom lip and tongue, like a sensual beast.

He knew she indulged roughness.

As expected, she released a soft moan and glared at the man eagerly. She wanted to take control too.

So, she ran her fingers into his hair, feeling his undercut beneath her slender fingers. He was enjoying her touch until she suddenly wrapped the strands of his hair around her fingers and pulled his head away from her, rough and hasty, breaking their salacious kiss. Levi gasped and hissed lowly at her sudden move.

She knew he fancies roughness too.

The usual sadistic and masochistic game they played every time. And they always sharpen their skills the next time.

"Shhh…" she pulled him back to her and whispered softly, "the bathroom walls are very thin. Hanji can hear us playing our secret little dirty games here…"

Her voice dwindled when Levi thrust his member straight and deep into her core. He grabbed her hips and move forward and backward furiously. She clutched onto him, dug her nails into his shoulders and bit her bottom lip, containing her moans within her mouth.

"Mhmmmmm!" she cried inwardly. The sensation was killing her.

Levi gave her a sly smirk and continued to thrust into her, increasing his momentum and banging her against the wall every second.

"L-Leviiii… my v-voice will leak…" Mikasa warned as she bit his shoulder to ease her moaning sound. He grunted lowly but he loved the arousing pain. It turned him on even more.

The whole bathroom was filled with steam from rising body temperature, heavy panting, and hot running shower water.

After countless rounds of making love together, every little sensitive nooks of hers were already imprinted in his brain. He was already capable of making her cum as and when he desired, same to her. The sensual look of her face, the erotic voice of hers, the tightness of her walls never failed to excite him. He will never get enough with this woman, _never_.

"Mmmmm, Levi…" she panted heavily, and stared into his eyes, yearning.

He muffled her cries into his mouth by kissing her roughly and increased his thrust, making it as fast as possible, as deep as possible, and finally he spilled inside her.

He locked his hands around her to stable their positions as the strength of her legs around his hips are weakening, a result from her orgasm.

Levi placed his chin on her shoulder and planted kisses on it before moving to her collarbone and lips. "Can you stand?" he whispered in her ear gently.

Mikasa nodded slowly. Her mind and eyes were clouded with the heavenly feeling as she stared at Levi scattily.

Carefully, Levi released Mikasa from his grip and steadied her wobbly body on the floor. The shower water ran down their bodies, wiping their sweats and fluids away. He shampooed and soaped her gently, as if she was a piece of fragile treasure.

She gave him a warm smile and chose to let him continue. She loved this gentle side of him, an inner part of him which she discovered recently, and which he never displayed to anyone before.

Once he had done cleaning and drying both of them, Levi carried Mikasa – princess style, to her bed. As soon as he put her to bed, Levi slipped under the sheets and held her close to his firm chest.

Mikasa gazed at Levi lovingly. She clasped her hands with his in the sheets and curled closer to him, wanting to feel his warm.

"Levi, I love you," she confessed earnestly, voice as sweet as sugar.

Levi's dark sapphire orbs widen and he gawked at the woman, seemingly struck by the confession. But he quickly regained his conscious and he cupped her redden cheeks, finger brushed against her swollen scarlet lips.

"Are you sure? I'm so much older than you," he asked.

"Only you can make me feel like this. I love your touch, your cuddle, everything about you. I've lost Eren few years ago, without us pouring our hearts out. God is virtuous enough to arrange you to me, another man who I fell deeply again. I want to treasure every single moment with you," Mikasa replied sincerely, giving the man before him the brightest smile she ever showed.

"Took you long enough to realise." Levi conceded with a genuine smile.

He was afraid to probe her true feelings. He feared their age difference could be a barrier, making her uncomfortable to start a truthful relationship with him. She is ten years younger than him. She still has her beauty and youth as a bargaining chip if this does not work out. He, unfortunately, does not have that luxury time.

He affirmed his feelings towards her that very morning at the abandoned house, right after Jean lay a finger on her. Those possessiveness and longing state of mind were far too much for him to contain. He believed that throughout the years, when he had been following her shadow wherever she went, analyzing her personality traits along, was affection, love, fondness itself. Still, he endured it and kept a distance with her in public as usual, but exploded to her once they were in the dark together. He had fallen deeply, crazily for Mikasa.

Even though they were living in a world of like hell, where their lives can be taken any minute, he still insisted to claim her, before _someone_ else does. At least, he will have a peace of mind.

Little did he realized, she experienced the same drawback as he. She recognized her affection towards this man when he first pressed his lips onto hers. To Mikasa, Levi's touches were like electric. Whenever he touched her, her body tingled in a frenzy of static, driving her insane. However, she dared not speak or even think about it. So, she decided to let it die quietly in her heart, until that faithful blizzard night turned her life upside down.

She gave up fighting against her heart, her desires towards this man. Acknowledging it will make her feel better and lighter. At least, she will have somewhere, _someone_ to return to, _from now on_.

"Mikasa, actually I wasn't going to ask for your consent to start this relationship," Levi blurted with a light grin. Mikasa looked at him bewilderedly but she waited silently for his explanation.

Levi leaned near to the shell of her ear and simpered softly, "if you choose not to be my woman, I will chain you to the bed, fuck you day and night endlessly, until you beg me _not_ to stop fucking you."

He watched as her ear turned scarlet, same goes to her face. She was mortified, frozen to the spot by his voluptuous, flirtatious statement.

"Pervert midget!" she surmised, her face burning in fire, flushing heavily. Without any delay, she hid herself under the sheets to avoid his sensual eye contact.

Levi grinned widely at the raven haired woman's reaction. He pulled her closer to his chest and kept her comfortable between his arms, their legs tangled, while he murmured, "goodnight. I love you, Mikasa."

* * *

The next morning was a pure aggravating scene to both of them when they appeared in holding hands in the mess hall.

The soldiers stood rooted to the ground, their eyes were widen to the extent they were going to roll out anytime, their mouth opened widely to a big 'O' shape. Some even chocked on their food and water. Words failed them. They were dumbfounded to see the couple, of all people, the two best soldiers, the two stoic soldiers, cuddling and looking into each other eyes lovingly as they walked towards the counter to retrieve their breakfast. Not to mention, they were smiling! _Smiling_!

Hanji adjusted her spectacles, removed it, rubbed her raw eyes, polished her specs and wore it back, feeling astonished. She squeaked in amazement behind her hand. "I knew it! I knew there was something between them!" She screamed softly at Erwin while shaking his shoulders excitedly.

Erwin, on the other hand, stayed cool. A faint curve drew its way up from his lips. He sensed the palpable sign of bliss on the faces of the couple and he was grateful for it. His plot had came true and he kept his fingers crossed that it will have a happy ending. Those two broken souls deserved one.

"Leviiiiiii! Finally you done one thing right!" Hanji start the ball rolling and exclaimed cheerfully with a flashy hand clapping sound.

"Tsk. Shut up, you maniac. When did I done anything wrong before?" Levi send a piercing glare at Hanji. His usual stoic expression made its way back to his face.

Her hand clapping sound snapped the rest of the soldiers' mind and they followed to cheer and shriek at the couple.

"Way to go, Corporal Levi!"

"You better don't fail Mikasa or I will be the one snatching her next!"

"Mikasa! We're glad for you!"

"Damn it! I thought I had a chance with Corporal Mikasa though!"

"Don't be an asshole! Corporal Mikasa will never lay an eye on you, freak!"

"Oh noooo! Corporal Leviiiiiii! Why? Why? Why?"

Facing the thunderous voices, overwhelming liveliness from their peers, Levi clicked his tongue irksomely while Mikasa let out a soft giggle.

Little did they noticed, the only two person who hung a gloomy expression in the hall were nonetheless, Petra and Jean. But they eventually released a thin, awkward smile as they gawked at the beaming couple. That striking smile that was hanging on their faces showed how attracted Levi and Mikasa were to each other until both of them could peel their masks away openly, a mission that Petra and Jean can never accomplish.

* * *

Ten years later.

The intense war between humanity and titans had called to an end. Remaining survivors applauded with awe-inspiring joyfulness, while some grief in pain for losing their loved ones. Although God had closed thousands, millions of humans' windows, He was still thoughtful to open another window for them. A brand new chapter of life, a discovery of adventurous path outside the wall, a mysterious world.

In the Scout Regiment, the joyous moments enveloped the whole castle. Everyone were celebrating their victory, day and night until the very last day when they part on different roads. Some stayed to assist the implementation of new laws in the wall, some stayed but joined as one of the members in exploitation journeys outside the wall to move the cramp civilians away from the wall, some chose to leave the military and live a simple life of their own – which was what Mikasa chose.

"Tsubasa, where is your mother? It's almost time to leave. We will miss the ceremony," asked Jean as he knelt down to confront the sapphire eyed, raven haired boy before him.

"She's at 'Freedom'. I'll go get her!" chirped the four year old boy as he dashed off to where his mother was.

* * *

Mikasa brushed and cleaned the dried leaves out the tombstone and placed a bouquet of lilies on top of it. It was a windy day. She wrapped herself in her green cloak to block the wind from cutting through her skin. The wind took fronds of her hair and made them into lashes that beat her face and blew above her head.

She gently gazed at the tombstone. She was no longer weeping in front of _him_ since she had him.

"Eren, humanity's war with the titans is over. We are all a freeman," Mikasa hummed in a calm, unhurried voice. "We are moving out of this castle today. To a brand new town, quiet place near the lake and forest. Many of our peers had moved in. We will feel like a family again there. It's a little far from here. I'm sorry I can't drop by as and when I wish anymore. But rest assured, I will definitely drop by on _that_ day, every year, without fail."

"I will miss you. I will always miss you…" Mikasa's voice grew faint when she heard a boy's voice from afar.

"Mommy! It's almost time to attend the award ceremony! I want to see the queen!" trilled Tsubasa loudly while he dashed in a bee line into Mikasa's arms.

"Tsubasa, we must keep our voices down here. This is the home of many souls, heroic souls who had sacrificed their lives for the ones who survived," chanted Mikasa softly as she placed a small perk on the boy's forehead.

The boy goggled at his mother. His hands pressed onto his mouth and nodded furiously. "Yes, mommy. I'm sorry for the loud noise," he whispered at his mother's ear obediently.

Mikasa gazed at her son tenderly and blurted, "Shall we go now?"

The blue eyed boy gave her a broad smile and nodded in agreement.

"Do you want a ride?" she offered the little boy.

Before she knew it, Tsubasa shook his head to decline her offer. "Daddy mentioned that I must be a sturdy man. Stronger than mommy so I can protect mommy from danger. Take my hand, mommy," demanded Tsubasa, his eyes flickered at her. Shakily, he made a gentleman bow, one elbow behind his back, another hand reached out to Mikasa, palm facing the sky.

The raven haired woman behold, her eyes clouded with tears of pearls, her lips curled up into a beautiful smile. "My pleasure, my little knight," cooed Mikasa and took his warm hand.

"There you are, I've been searching up and down for both of you. The queen is summoning us, you're up next," called a low voice.

"Daddy!" Tsubasa chimed excitedly but he kept his grip on Mikasa's hand, well aware that he has to hold onto his mother's hand once he offered his escort, as how his father taught him.

The sapphire orbs grinned pleasingly at his son before moving his gaze to capture the grey orbs.

The man ambled to the woman's side and planted a loving kiss on her lips. He tucked a stray hair behind her ear and examined her appearance warmly. "As expected, you look stunning in your long hair. You should've kept it long earlier," purred the raven haired man, gazing lovingly at Mikasa.

"What a sweet compliment, you are drowning me with sugar, my dear Levi," whispered Mikasa at Levi's ear with a grin.

"I will say as much as you want, if you like it," Levi replied in a cool and affectionate voice. "Because you are my wife."

Mikasa's cheeks heated, they turned kissed pink like a spring rose. Her eyes locked like a magnet at her clasped hand with Levi. Her heart screamed in eureka. She just really adored this man and was grateful that he loved her too.

 _Cute_. He rested his eyes on his wife affectionately, feeling the urge to drag her to their room and start their sweet war privately until his thoughts were disturbed by a little voice.

"A-hem! Daddy, for your information, mommy is currently MY beautiful queen. She is under my escort and protection. Please do not snatch that role from me because you came LATE," protested Tsubasa with his high pitched voice. He scrambled in between his parents, defensively hid Mikasa behind his back with arms akimbo, his large blue eyes piercing through Levi's half lidded dark sapphire orbs.

Mikasa let out a soft giggle behind her hand while Levi stared down a dull look at his son.

 _Crap, so now I've gotten myself a love rival that I can't get rid of for the rest of my life. Great. Freaking great_. Levi cursed inwardly.

"We should get going, my handsome knight," chirped Mikasa tunefully as she kneeled down and placed a perk on her son's forehead.

Tsubasa nodded satisfactorily and begun to stride towards the castle with his parents following his trails behind.

"You look devilish, Levi."

Levi pulled his wife down to his eye level and whispered huskily in the shell of her ear, "we have plenty of time to play King and Queen Games later in our chamber, without that brat's disturbance. It's about time for us to have another kid to keep that brat occupied."

Watching her pale complexion turned to shades of pink and to crimson red was always one of his favourite past times. Every little motions she made was no foreign to him and he could read her like a book.

For a long time, thirty years, Levi had been unconsciously in pursuit of happiness, peacefulness and blissfulness. He was blessed to meet Mikasa, his guardian angel, and have her in his life when he touched thirty one years of age. She was wedded to him after growing their relationship steadily, passionately for three years.

Then, five years ago, on his birthday, she whispered her present in his ear, a thunderbolt miracle, a gem created by both of them in her slender body.

Now, he has a loving wife, an astute son, a warm home to return to, where he can finally peel off his armour and be fond of the autonomy, alleviation and warmth for the rest of his life.

* * *

Chapter 6 end


	7. Epilogue

_Disclaimer: I do not own Attack on Titan or the characters of Attack on Titan. But the idea and some of the characters are mine._

 _Pairing: Levi x Mikasa (I strongly ship them! Hope my readers are in the same boat as me~)_

 ** _Hi guys. I've finally completed this story!  
_**

 ** _Thank you for following me to the end ~_**

 ** _By the way, I have in mind another story which I will be posting next month._**

 ** _Stay tuned! :)_**

* * *

Epilogue

* * *

On a sunny afternoon, Levi sat on a couch at the outdoor corridor of his cosy house by the lake. The yolk looking sun poured out its brilliant trails down the ground like a pot of molten lava. The heat was increasing but it was soon cooled by a playful breeze that sucked away the lava as it swayed the earth.

It was an exceptional day when Levi decided to close his tea shop while Tsubasa spent his week at the boot camp in another developed region, north-west from wall Maria. Their daughter, Cielle, on the other hand, was away for a three days two nights school camp near the ocean. The house has gained peace from the disappearance of the boisterous brats. The blue eyed man yearned nothing more than to spend some quality time with his wife.

He flipped the pages of the books he had set beside the couch, another hand gently stroking the shiny long hair of Mikasa's, who was in her slumber on his lap. He loved their intimate time, alone, silently. They were both the same type of person of a few words and they loved being as they were. Some words remained unspoken between them, but their actions paid off well in many circumstances.

Their pathway was not as smooth sailing as they thought it would be. To be frank, they almost had to give up their identities to keep themselves to each other.

It all began when he decided to propose to her, after spouting their relationship steadily, passionately for three years.

~~xxx~~

That starry night, he brought her to the most romantic dinner in a French garden restaurant in wall Sina. Never did he imagined that one day he will crack his head to plan something like this in his life. He even discussed the details over and over again with Erwin and Hanji before carrying out. He never feared failure as he was that night. Vividly, he recalled that the thought itself made him trembled and shivered.

Another burden to his shudder was Mikasa's being itself. The woman appeared before him was dressed in a deep V, bare back, long red dress. It was made out of silk and the material was body wrapping. It strongly projected her finely tone figure from top to bottom. Her long hair was curled in big waves. Her face was only fairly done since she already owned a natural exotic beauty as her token.

The sight could blow out any feeble man's head. Levi Ackerman, the humanity's strongest soldier, even chocked on his own breath when he first saw her in her room. She was an art created by Hanji. He never thought that the fanatic woman had this set of skills until that very day. He cursed and glared at Hanji to signal that she better had not leaked a word about the plan. Hanji, of course, returned his glare with a confident smirk.

That was not Mikasa's style but she carried the dress perfectly well. The designer screamed in glee when she came out from the dressing room in that masterpiece of his. None could ever carry that dress, so the designer hid it well in his chest until it found its owner, earlier that afternoon when Hanji dragged Mikasa into the shop.

That night was a rather frenetic night for him. He had to continuously sending vicious glares to men around her. She was a blooming flower, at the peak of her age. How he wish that he could hide her in his world, never to let anyone see her anymore.

"You are beautiful, Mikasa," he finally complimented while he sipped his glass of wine.

"Thank you. You look very dashing tonight too, Levi," she mouthed bashfully.

She could not help but to blush heavily when she first saw Levi at her door. His hair was fully brushed up and was wearing a tuxedo. A full satin material black coat, vest and trousers with a matching white crisp button down collar shirt, together with his signature cravat. His refined body figure brought that piece of work to life.

It was a huge restaurant, owned by one of the royalties, the only royalty family that Levi had his respect to, the Pyxis family. It usually needed two to three months in advance booking to get a table in that restaurant, thus, it was forever fully booked.

That night, Levi had the whole restaurant booked for his 'event'. Pyxis gladly rented his restaurant for Levi's arrangement as he had been openly supporting the relationship between the Ackermans and sincerely longed that they will walk the path together till their last breath in this hell.

"I wonder why it's so empty today. This restaurant is forever fully booked," blurted Mikasa as she finished the last bite of her dessert. Her eyes darted around the empty restaurant, secretly she was grateful for the serenity though.

Levi slowly got onto his feet and stride to her side. He bowed gentlemanly and stretched out his hand to her. "Come with me, Mikasa."

Puzzled with the weird character of her man's, she still chose to keep silent and placed her hand onto his palm. He tightened his grip and pulled her towards him. They then ambled out of the restaurant, towards a magnificent landscaped garden.

There was a row of tall red maple trees at both sides of the path, the lamp posts did their job in illuminating the pathway for their visitors. After the tall trees, they arrived in front of a vast fountain. The fountain was surrounded with rose bushes of different colours, making it the jewel of the garden.

Mikasa swayed around the garden with Levi. She liked being surrounded by Mother Nature. Not to mention, the scent of the roses was drowning her, poisoning her gratifyingly. Her only disenchantment was, the fountain was not functioning so were the ring of English lamp posts by the fountain.

"Levi, the garden is gorgeous. Commander Pyxis sure likes gardening I presume…" her voice faded out when she turned around to face Levi, who was on one bent knee. Magically, the waters of the fountain gradually filled its statue, and brought the scene to life. The lamp posts around it were floodlit, one after another.

The onyx eyed ravenette grasped in incredulity, her eyes widen and her body lightly dazed with the unforeseen act of Levi's. "Don't tell me…"

The man inhaled an adequate amount of air. He retrieved a little red velvet chest from his tuxedo and rested his orbs into her glassy eyes. A sliver of moonlight shone on them, emphasized the scene, as if they were the only beings left in the world.

"It's been a long time since I ever open my heart to another being. More than two decades I believe. You are the only woman who I find peace in. You are the only woman I ever poured my heart out to. You are the only woman that lighted up my miserably dark life. You are the only woman who can manipulate my mind, control my actions, and complete my being as a whole…"

He watched as silvery tears rolled down his lover's cheeks. Slowly, he took her hand in his while presenting the round shiny ring from its chest. He placed a small perk on her hand before continuing, "I love you, so much, so profound that I can ever imagine. And I promise to love you, until life separates us, until my last breathing second. Mikasa Ackerman, will you marry me?"

He startled at the frozen woman. He had butterflies in his stomach as he waited for her response. Pearls were still streaming out from the sides of her sparkling eyes. She was staggered and overly ecstatic with his speech. In the next second, she slammed her body hard against his, threw her arms around his neck. The man was caught unawares at the sudden weight. Both of them fell onto the ground, but Levi managed to maintain a sitting posture, with Mikasa on his lap.

"Yes, I will marry you. Only you, Levi Ackerman," she whispered in his ear, in a trembling tone. It was out of overwhelming merriment.

Levi sat in astonishment while he held onto the woman tightly. He poured open-mouth kisses on her neck, shoulder. She moved her head sideward to claim his lips too. Their kisses were fiery, passionate and addictive. They were their salvation and torment. After a long while, they pulled away to grasp for air and panted heavily.

He rested his forehead against hers and slipped the ring into her index finger. Her fingers played around the cold silvery object and she gave him a blissful smile before pulling him for another kiss.

"I love you…"

He heard her murmured between kisses. The moment was splendid. He would fought against death for this woman if he have to, whenever, wherever.

~~xxx~~

The news of their engagement spread like wildfire in the walls. The whole Scout Regiment congratulated their best soldiers. They even threw a pre-wedding party for them. Little did they realized that, the elderly of the government were not as pleased as they were when the news reached their ears.

The elderly of the government opposed their marriage and forced a betrothal on each of them. A complete stranger from the Military Police Regiment and Garrison Regiment.

"Colonel Levi Ackerman, you are betrothed to First Lieutenant Rico Brzenska! Colonel Mikasa Ackerman, you are betrothed to First Lieutenant Dennis Aiblinger! This is the end of the topic for today. Dismissed!" barked Aurille at the couple in the meeting room of the Scout Regiment. Erwin and Hanji were also present in the room, along with Gerald and Deltoff from the Royal Government.

"Is this some kind of joke?" Levi scoffed, his gritted his teeth and clicked in exasperation. He crossed his arms and stared daggers at the three top Royal Government.

"You heard us, Colonel Levi. The decision is finalized and you have no choice but to obey, unless you want a miserable life," Aurille pronounced sloppily at the crowd.

Levi merely snorted lowly. He was a man of a haughty temper. His peers' eyes were on stalks as he moved forward to thump his hands onto the table, creating a loud echo in the room and won the full angst attention of the three outsiders.

"You three filthy pigs. Let me tell you what kind of choices you have, instead. Number one, I will slaughter the three of you and burn your corpses into ashes where no one even knew you were here. Number two, Mikasa and I will resign from the Scout Regiment, you will never ever find another soul who can fight like us or even near to quarter of our skills. Number three, you get your asses out of our castle right now while this conversation never happen and will never happen again. Now, choose," growled the fuming man as his glares darted straight into the terrified Aurille's orbs.

Erwin let out a low sigh and ceased Levi from marching nearer to the three frightened Royal Government nobles. Hanji tried to contain her giggles in her throat by sealing her mouth tight. Mikasa watched closely with a slight grin. The order from Aurille flew in and out in a straight line from their ears before the ink is dry. They did not cared to comply even though they may need to go against the whole Royal Government.

"Well, well. What a show here. Erwin, you should've told me to arrive earlier. I didn't want to miss the demonstration where Levi beat up a soul. His combat skills is top notch," grumbled a familiar voice as the door squeaked open.

"Ah, there you are, Commander Pyxis. I didn't expect Levi to flare-up before your arrival anyway," Erwin retorted with a low chuckle.

"Tsk. This is not some monkey training performance," Levi ranted as he rolled his eyes impatiently.

"Bahahahahha! I can't take it anymore, for Christ's sake! You're the devil itself, Levi!" cried Hanji as she burst into laughter.

"Calm down, Hanji…" intoned Mikasa as she shook her head.

The three Royal Government nobles burned in flames at the instantaneous scene. They were like some sort of toddler expanded to adult size, annoyance in their wrath, a sort of impulsiveness. They stood up, knocking off the chairs behind to make a scene, an attention to be drawn to them from the ear-splitting crowd.

"Enough! We'd made ourselves clear about the order! There shall be no objection, only submission! Commander Pyxis, why are you here? You are not invited to this meeting in the first place!" snarled Gerald, his voice cracked and raw.

The noise from the crowd slowly faded and all had their egotistical and icy eyes glared down at the trio. The temperature instantly shot down to below ten degrees Celsius, turning the meeting room into a freezer. Three of them silently looked at each other and shuddered inwardly.

Pyxis stood forward to break the ice. He cleared his throat and intoned in a monotonous manner, "I believe that my presence is highly important in this meeting since one of my soldiers is involved. Well, as you can see, there shouldn't be an issue for this little couple to get wedded. What is it that concerned all of you?"

Eyeing the old commander, Deltoff voiced out their concern, "we can't afford having both of them away from the front line. Their skills are far more valuable than the rest of the soldiers. If they started getting their heads on romance and family, winning this war against the titans will be a fool's paradise."

"Even though you arranged another betrothal for them separately, as time passed by, they might also create families of their own with their future partners – it will still create the same concern you are facing right now. Why can't we just allow both of them to get married and to promise not to bear a child until the war is over? Besides, I trust that, to launch a war with the two humanity's strongest solders will be your last resort, right?" Pyxis suggested with a small grin.

Deltoff, Gerald and Aurille widen their eyes, as if the possibilities and idea that Pyxis mentioned never crossed their minds before. Besides, since Commander Pyxis is involved, they dared not simply jump into conclusion since Pyxis is also a distinguished royalty. They turned their backs from the party for a clandestine dialogue among themselves.

"Looks like they weren't born with their brains. And the King crowned such morons as Royal Government nobles. I doubt the King has a brain too…" judged Levi under his breath as he pinched the bridge of his nose, as a sign of exasperation. Mikasa knocked Levi with her shoulder lightly to keep him silent before he made another blast.

After a few moments, the three elderly came to a conclusion. Aurille eyed everyone in the room alertly before announcing the decision, "Ok. We have concluded that Commander Pyxis's suggestion can be taken into immediate action. Colonel Levi Ackerman, Colonel Mikasa Ackerman, can you both promise to devote your life to the Scout Regiment and for humanity's sake?"

"Yes." The Ackermans agreed in union.

"Very well. We shall withdraw our earlier statement and allow you to carry on with your wedding arrangements. That is all for today. We will take our leave." Solemnly, with long strides, the three of them advanced and left the castle in no time.

Erwin massaged his temple while he took a seat beside Pyxis after sending off the uninvited ghosts. "Thanks for coming, Commander Pyxis. You are the key reason they changed their minds."

"Don't mention it. I came here for another reason too," Pyxis leisurely ogle at the couple, who were busy handling the frenzied pony tailed woman, who was about to chase the three ghosts with a broom. A thin curve draw its way upwards from his lips. The life within the wall may still look like hell, but living with the one you love will ease the pain yards away. "Bliss can still be found in this pit hole when you leave no stone unturned," he continued in a pleased tone.

Erwin followed Pyxis's gaze and too, drew a thin smile over his face. He acknowledged. "I will make sure those two will have each other, as long as I live," Erwin affirmed, his voice thick with protection and vigil.

Pyxis kept his glance at the couple, who were now gazing each other, wordlessly, adoringly. Their hands secretly clasped in the dark. "They deserve an optimistic future, with each other's presence. We are already facing life and death every other day. What's it left in our life when we can't even be with the person we love?" The bald man murmured lowly as he took a sip from his little bottle of wine, which he had kept in his suit.

"Thank you, Commander Pyxis. This room may turn into a slaughtering house if you didn't arrive on time," conveyed Mikasa who had silently skulked up to the two commanders.

"Ah, there you are, Mikasa. Congratulations on your engagement. Have you found your happiness?" Pyxis entreated. His eyes stay fixed on the young colonel.

"Without a doubt," the young maiden confessed. A bright, poised and amorous smile formed on her face. The old commander froze at the sight, the young commander chortled, the pony tailed major general cried in awe while the short colonel flushed in pink.

Pyxis had never seen Mikasa Ackerman releasing such emotion openly before. In his memories, she was always a pokerfaced, downbeat young girl, with a hidden cracked élan vital.

From the moment Levi arrived at his doorstep to rent his restaurant for his proposal, the beam and edginess Levi arrayed about his proposal plotting, the exultant moment when Levi announced his success, until now, when he witness the exuded true sentiments of Mikasa towards Levi, was priceless to the old commander.

He let out a pleased laughter moments later as he held onto both Mikasa and Levi's hand tightly. "Protect your marriage and your future family, by all means. I'll be on your side. By the way, screw my last sentence about not bearing a child until the war ends. I want to carry your baby as soon as possible!"

The couple gawked at the old commander with bewilderment. They nodded coyly while they squeezed their hands together.

~~xxx~~

Their wedding was held in a church, a simple yet touching one.

Mikasa walked down the aisle, her hand tugged onto her man of honour's elbow (Jean bellowed and insisted he shall play the role when Erwin, Hanji, Levi and Mikasa were choosing the right man to walk down the aisle with Mikasa), dressed in an off shoulder long white lace dress with a wedding veil above her head, her hair was tied into a flower bun, and a bouquet of red rose (hand-picked and arranged by Levi himself) in her other hand.

Levi stood straight, eyes squinted at the tall man. Annoyance drowning him alive.

The moment Jean and Mikasa reached Levi's side, the tall man shoot piercing glares at the short man before he released Mikasa's hand from his tensioned elbow.

"You better make her as blissful as possible. I'll be around, watching over her," Jean warned lowly. "If you screw up, you're a dead meat."

Levi snarled in return, "she's mine to concern. Lay back, brat."

He gradually eased his antagonism and her hand was placed onto his hand. Mikasa look through the veil, at her future husband. His bangs were slicked backwards, undercut perfectly trimmed, and he was in a silver tuxedo together with his trademark cravat. She could not help but to contain her blood from rushing to her cheeks at the sight. He was indeed much more charming than he usually was.

As soon as they spoken their vows, the long waited moment, "I, now announce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

The once quiet hall was immediately flooded with mutters of guests with different expressions. Some cried, some frustrated, some pleased, some jubilant, some thrilled.

Levi tugged his bride's veil backwards, to reveal her glamorous face. She smiled, her rosy painted lips curved up into a wonderful smile, her eyes flickered under her long lashes. He studied her, drunk in every little detail of the moment, imprinting her appearance into his memory before it slipped away. It was a once in a life time jiffy.

He dared not blink, he dared not loosen his grip on her shoulders, for she may vanish into thin air, for all of this maybe just a fool's dream.

She felt his shivers, sending into her skin through his palms. Leisurely, she lifted her hand, and placed it on his cheeks. He snapped at the sudden warmth and stared into her eyes again.

"Levi... I'm right here, in front of you. And I'll never leave you, for as long as I live. Just like you promised, you will never let me die, as long as you live. I'll love you wholeheartedly, forever," she muttered softly, in a voice as gentle as Zephyr sighs on morning lily's cheek.

A stray tear escaped the corner of the groom's eye. He was mesmerized by the woman before him. I finally found you, the love of my life… he screamed within.

He leaned forward, floated his hands upward to cup her face, pulling her towards him, closing the gap in between, and pressed his lips against hers.

Thunderous claps and cheers drowned the church.

"Colonel Leviiii! Colonel Mikasaaa!"

"Congratulations! I can't believe this is happening!"

"For Christ's sake! They're kissing!"

"This is such a touching moment…"

Feeling a little infuriated, softly, he pulled away, turned to the crowd, and he sent a triumphant smirk. It grasped their breath.

"Tsk. Shut up will you? I'm having a great time here with my wife," he growled.

The crowd retorted and burst into laughter at that statement. The two humanity's strongest soldiers were officially taken.

~~xxx~~

The afternoon sun is slowly setting its way down to the horizon. Orange sparkles spread across the sky and lake. Levi had long finished reading his books. He was still nestled in the couch with his wife. She was awake moments ago, but still tugged onto his lap comfily.

He hears her hummed soundly under her breath, a little song of her favourite, which was of her mother's native language. Her eyes flickered at him with a blissful smile. Instantly, he was lost in her wonderland. Gently, he pulled her up and settled her body straight on his lap.

"Are you happy, Mikasa? With someone like me…"

He found himself querying this question over and over again throughout the years, but he never mouthed.

 _When had I became such a timid, hopeless brat?_ He was a man of action, of merciless, of fearless, of arrogance, of forthright. Until he had her, in his nirvana. His world was flipped upside down.

 _Had she made the right choice of being with me? Or would she rather die with that brat?_

"I wouldn't want to bear your child if I'm not."

 _Ah, that's it. She will be the death of me._

His warm slender fingers swayed in her long silky hair. He twirled some of her hair into his fingers, pulled towards his lips and kissed the tip of it. "You smell good, Mikasa," he commented in a libidinous tone.

He eyed his bashful wife, who was turning from pink to scarlet every second. A wicked smile formed at his lips.

"Let's go inside," Levi whispered in a husky voice in her ear. He stood up from the couch, carrying her securely in his arms while she wrapped hers around his neck, and headed into their house, a place called _home_.

 _This is all I want for life_ , he confirmed. Waking up in the soothing godly glitters, hearing the whispers of tranquil waters from the river, to the face of the love of his life beside him. To roam his fingers down from her hair to curves, caressing her soft flesh, making her ticklish as he goes. Until she cracked her eyelid to drink in her culprit. Until she hovered onto him to chastise him pleasurably. Until the uproars of their children knock them out. This is what he infers as the completion of his wheel of happiness.

* * *

Fin


End file.
